I think the ELBOW ROOM publication was basically a “bait and switch” scam
carried out by a small group. The Chicago Tribune on 27 Oct 1877 reported
on the door-to-door scam. SLC sent a letter to newspapers across the
country on 11 Dec 1877 disavowing it.
Barb
On Tuesday, July 23, 2019, Mac Donnell Rare Books <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> The copies with the new subtitle show Twain as the author. The title-pages
> are a cancel, but the circumstances of their publication are unknown.
> Normally such a re-issue would be attributed to a publisher trying to cash
> in and move out unsold copies, but the timing (ca 1890) in this case
> suggests perhaps another motivation--somebody trying to stir the pot or get
> even, perhaps. I dunno.
>
> Kevin
> @
> Mac Donnell Rare Books
> 9307 Glenlake Drive
> Austin TX 78730
> 512-345-4139
> Member: ABAA, ILAB, BSA
>
> You can browse our books at:
> www.macdonnellrarebooks.com
>
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> From: "David Dussere" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: 7/22/2019 11:33:16 PM
> Subject: Re: Mark Twain's Library of Humor a mystery
>
> There's always a bit/lot of unknown in the past. I'm not familiar with
>> your copy of Elbow Room, or the Innocents at Home. My copy's title page is
>> Elbow-Room/ a novel without a plot/ Philadelphia/ J.M. Stoddart & Co. Back
>> page shows 1876. I think Elbow Room was remaindered and new title pages
>> pasted in (one explanation for the subtitle you indicate). My memory
>> (always a leaky vessel) recalls seeing a book with the title page Elbow
>> Room with Mark Twain as the author. I saw this copy at U of Wisc. library
>> (1971?) It was still cataloged with a Cutter number--hadn't been redone
>> into LC.Horst Kruse's article in MTJ (1991) shows the animosity between
>> Twain and Clark goes back to 1869 and publication of Twain's "Bad Boy"
>> sketch. Twain's hostility to Clark may have changed his pseudonym from John
>> Quill to Max Adeler. Anyway, the question remains-- was the Butterwick's
>> Little Gas Bill" sketch included in MTLH as anonymous because the editors
>> didn't know the author (Clark/Adeler was very well known in the 1880's), or
>> because Twain wanted Clark/Adeler's name suppressed, or because Clark had
>> renounced his humor in 1882 to become an editor and writer for business
>> periodicals and refused permission, or for some other reason. There are
>> good reasons to support each theory. Forthcoming facts are even more
>> convincing.
>> david dussere
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mac Donnell Rare Books <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: TWAIN-L <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Mon, Jul 22, 2019 8:19 am
>> Subject: Re: Mark Twain's Library of Humor a mystery
>>
>> The plot thickens. Yes, Adeler accused Twain of stealing the plot for CY
>> from him. Makes you wonder if the publication of Adeler's novel, Elbow
>> Room (1876), with a fake title-page substituted reading Elbow Room, or
>> the Innocents at Home, might have had something to do with all of this.
>> The date is unknown but ca. 1890, so the timing is right.
>>
>>
>> Kevin
>> @
>> Mac Donnell Rare Books
>> 9307 Glenlake Drive
>> Austin TX 78730
>> 512-345-4139
>> Member: ABAA, ILAB, BSA
>>
>> You can browse our books at:
>> www.macdonnellrarebooks.com
>>
>>
>> ------ Original Message ------
>> From: "David Dussere" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Sent: 7/22/2019 12:13:21 AM
>> Subject: Re: Mark Twain's Library of Humor a mystery
>>
>> Thanks Kevin for your (as always) informative reply. Your guess that the
>>> editors of the MTLH didn't know the source because it had been reprinted
>>> with no author indicated is probably what happened. But I have two
>>> theories, both based on the contentious relationship between Clark and
>>> Twain. (The MTJ in 1991 has two essays--one by Horst Kruse and the other by
>>> David Ketterman) illustrating the friction.) Perhaps Twain wanted
>>> Clark's/Adeler's name suppressed. Or Clark refused to grant permission to
>>> publish a possibly copyright piece. (The almost exact sketch ("Butterwick's
>>> Little Gas Bill") is in Clark/Adeler's ELBOW ROOM.) By 1888 ( the
>>> publishing of MTLH) Clark was trying to get rid of his reputation as a
>>> "mere" humorist. I look forward to the Clemens conference and welcome any
>>> further discussion about Clark/Adeler and his place as a humorist.
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Mac Donnell Rare Books <[log in to unmask]>
>>> To: TWAIN-L <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Sent: Sun, Jul 21, 2019 11:59 am
>>> Subject: Re: Mark Twain's Library of Humor a mystery
>>>
>>> Just speculating here:
>>>
>>> I've found Max Adler's sketches on Mr Butterwick's gas bill and Mr.
>>> Butterwick counting sheep published in newspapers anonymously (and in
>>> some papers where it is credited to Adler). Editors sometimes played
>>> fast and loose with items they plucked from the exchange. Things get
>>> credited to Twain that he did not write, and snippets from Twain's
>>> published books often got reprinted under spurious titles, with and
>>> without sourcing. Texts get altered to suit local readershiops and
>>> authorships get misattributed or ignored.
>>>
>>> So, the text used in MTLB may have been taken from a newspaper, comic
>>> anthology, or magazine where it appeared without the authorship
>>> credited. I'm pretty certain Twain would have recognized Adler's
>>> authorship of any sketch having to do with Mr Butterwick, but he did not
>>> edit MTLB and may not have noticed the lack of attribution.
>>>
>>> I'd want to look at Gribben (MT's Library), MTP's online letters,
>>> N&J1-3, AMT1-3, Fears Day-by-Day online (but double-check his citations,
>>> and you may have to look under both the Ms and As in the index to find
>>> references to Adler), as well as a few other places.
>>>
>>> Kevin
>>> @
>>> Mac Donnell Rare Books
>>> 9307 Glenlake Drive
>>> Austin TX 78730
>>> 512-345-4139
>>> Member: ABAA, ILAB, BSA
>>>
>>> You can browse our books at:
>>> www.macdonnellrarebooks.com
>>>
>>>
>>> ------ Original Message ------
>>> From: "David Dussere" <[log in to unmask]>
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Sent: 7/20/2019 9:37:20 PM
>>> Subject: Mark Twain's Library of Humor a mystery
>>>
>>> Only one selection "Butterwick's Little Gas Bill" in MTLH is attributed
>>>> to anonymous. Why and what exactly was its source? Charles Heber Clark (Max
>>>> Adeler/John Quill) wrote the sketch, but the where and why are only a
>>>> speculation to me. I haven't done the needed research and would welcome any
>>>> comments on the Forum or at the conference in Hannibal.David Dussere
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
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