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previously unpublished photos from the trip and relics gathered by one of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
>
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