I only wish I could afford to attend...

On Fri, 2017-06-09 at 21:33 -0500, Kevin Mac Donnell wrote:
> The Celebrated Jumping Frog certainly introduced Twain to English
> readers, 
> but I think it was The Innocents Abroad that became a bestseller and
> spread 
> his fame internationally. I go into the bibliographic details that 
> demonstrate this at the beginning of my virtual tour of the Quaker
> City 
> excursion (the trip that resulted in his writing IA, as most in this
> Forum 
> probably know). I will present that virtual tour (with 200 slides,
> including 
> previously unpublished photos from the trip and relics gathered by
> one of 
> the vandals) at the International Mark Twain Conference in Elmira in
> August. 
> This is just one of many many reasons to attend that conference, but
> since 
> the question came up, I could not resist a bit of shameless self-
> promotion.
> 
> Kevin
> @
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> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Martin Zehr
> Sent: Friday, June 09, 2017 7:23 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Twain's fame/notoriety in Europe
> 
> Kevin MacDonnell would know the publication information regarding
> European
> issues of Twain's works better than I, but an edition of The Jumping
> Frog
> was published by Routledge in England in 1867, simultaneous with the
> American first edition, and the same thing applies to The Innocents
> Abroad
> in 1869.  The English, it can be argued, were already primed to
> receive
> Twain's brand of American humor in 1867, the year of Artemus Ward's
> death-
> in England.  Ward was widely popular in England at the time of his
> death,
> so shifting their interest to another variant of American humor may
> not
> have been the least bit difficult.  Twain undoubtedly benefited from
> Ward's
> popularity at the time, and was all too willing to "borrow" from
> Ward.
> Twain's running joke in The Innocents Abroad, the question put to the
> guides, "Is He Dead?" can be traced to an Artemus Ward sketch which
> might
> have been familiar to English readers.  David E. E. Sloane has
> recently
> confirmed the link and the Ward citation for me.  Thus, it can be
> argued,
> Ward should not only be credited as a/the source of "Mark Twain," his
> popularity likely made Twain's early acceptance in England a bit more
> likely.
> 
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> 
> On Fri, Jun 9, 2017 at 3:16 AM, Scott Holmes <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> 
> > 
> > I remain dubious that Twain attained much recognition in Europe
> > because
> > of the Jumping Frog tale, as it is very much regional humor - but
> > of
> > such quality that it garnered national recognition.  I suspect that
> > it
> > was The Innocents Abroad that earned him, at least, Europe's
> > attention.
> >  I'm wondering if any of his letters to Alta California found their
> > way
> > into European publications.  Is it possible that these columns
> > caught
> > the attention of those Europeans residing in the US; ambassadors,
> > business representatives, etc. that may have forwarded the articles
> > to
> > their homelands.  Their interest may have been piqued by this
> > provocative journalist making unusual observations of their
> > country(s).
> > How successful was initial publication of The Innocents Abroad
> > abroad?
> > It appears that the French version of the Jumping Frog came out
> > following publication of The Innocents Abroad.
> > 
> > --
> >  There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are
> > dreamt of
> >                           in your philosophy.
> >                         http://bscottholmes.com
> > 
-- 
 There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of
                          in your philosophy.
                        http://bscottholmes.com