They have the fence right and the story wrong. In the earliest known photo 
of the boyhood home (a stereoview from ca 1882-83)  the fence is a vertical 
board fence just like what you see today, so that's historically correct.

But see pp. 28, 30, 34, and 36 in the first edition of Tom Sawyer.

Page 28 and 30 show the fence that was painted. Page 30 shows the fence in 
the backyard (which was not painted) and page 36 shows another fence 
entirely. The illustration at page 30 is clear as clear can be. But myths 
die hard, like the bar-tab hoax or the Capt Sellers cover-story, Nigger Jim, 
and the countless things that Twain never said that trail the false 
appendage "--Mark Twain."

Kevin
@
Mac Donnell Rare Books
9307 Glenlake Drive
Austin TX 78730
512-345-4139
Member: ABAA, ILAB
*************************
You may browse our books at:
www.macdonnellrarebooks.com


-----Original Message----- 
From: J. Dean
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2017 3:31 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hannibal

The problem with having a fence that matches Twain's description and the 
ori=
ginal Sawyer illustrations is that it seems unlikely that Aunt Polly would 
n=
ot have seen the mob at work clearly visible through the wide spaces 
between=
the rails.  The vegetation in the yard could have created some visual obstr=
uction, of course.  She was, also, at the back of the house nodding off 
over=
her knitting with the cat in her lap when Tom came to tell her he was done 
w=
ith the job.  As Twain says she was expecting Tom to slip away, she 
probably=
felt she had done her Christian duty by chasing Jim away and had long since=
stopped keeping tabs on him.

Probably more to the point, the Rockwell illustration, used on the postage 
s=
tamp and displayed in the Museum in Hannibal, is of a fence with vertical 
bo=
ards.  That, no doubt, seals the deal as far as what type fence will be 
used=
on the boyhood home.  "When the legend becomes fact ..."

Jerry Dean

Sent from my iPad

> On Sep 13, 2017, at 2:34 PM, Peter Salwen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>=20
> Thanks for the terrific photos, Terry. The place seems to have changed a
> bit since I was there last, in 1955.
>=20
> Alas, I see they've still got that fence wrong, though, with the boards
> upright, even though that great and wise philosopher who wrote *Tom
> Sawyer* makes
> it clear that they should run lengthwise: "Sighing, [Tom] dipped his 
> brush=

> and passed it along the topmost plank."
>=20
> Stay well & keep sharing those pix.
>=20
> *_________________________________*
>=20
> *Peter Salwen /* salwen.com
> *114 W 86, NYC 10024 | 917-620-5371*
>=20
>=20
> On Wed, Sep 13, 2017 at 12:29 PM, Terry Ballard <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>=20
>>   I recently traveled to Hannibal on the way to Nebraska to see the 
>> total=

>> eclipse. I'd been once before, but this time I had a camera with a nice 
>> n=
ew
>> lens, so I had an afternoon and morning of fun capturing the spirit of 
>> wh=
at
>> seemed to me to be a booming ghost town (Lots of tour buses and fudge
>> options, no groceries or gas stations that I saw). The town was 
>> beautiful=
,
>> especially the Boyhood Home and the people were uniformly friendly and
>> helpful. If anyone is curious, a gallery of the best images can be found 
>> a=
t
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/terryballard/albums/72157688158021175
>> Driving west, I passed on the exit for the Clemens Birth home - you have 
>> t=
o
>> save something for the next visit.
>>=20
>> --
>>=20
>>=20
>> Terry Ballard
>> Author and Librarian Without Walls
>> http://www.terryballard.org
>> Author of the book "50 specialty libraries of New York City: =46rom 
>> botan=
y to
>> magic" http:// <http://googlethisforlibraries.com/>librariesnyc.org
>>=20
>> "My memory has a mind of its own."
>>=20
>=20