All this chatter about the colorized photo of Mark Twain has reminded me
of a question I had when I was at the Mark Twain Library, that I now
have time to pursue in retirement.
Duane Haley drew a crayon sketch of Mark Twain, taken from a photograph
in December 1908 by William Ireland Lee (a Redding resident).
Haley died soon after, before signing the portrait; later after Twain's
death, there was some discussion as to where it should reside. His
daughter, Clara, finally felt it should hang in the Mark Twain Library
(the library still has her letter saying as such) but there the trail
ends. I do not think the portrait ever reached the library, and I am
curious as to what happened to it.
The portrait shows Twain in a side-ways view, sitting in a chair at
Stormfield, wearing his Oxford gown, and, of course, smoking a cigar. It
is the sketch I am interested in, not the photograph.
If any one out there can give me a clue as to where it now is, I will be
very grateful (and I promise not to steal it back). Many thanks.
Heather.
On Sat, Mar 08, 2014 at 02:10 PM, Kevin Mac Donnell wrote:
> The problem with such colorized photos is that they are, of course,
> fantasies.
>
> They are fun and interesting, but they are not fact, nor are they
> history.
>
> Alvin Coburn's autochromes of Twain are the real deal even if their
> pigments have changed a bit over time; colorized photos are not.
>
> I had a photo of Twain pacing on a porch colorized for the cover of a
> book Alan Gribben and I edited in 1983, and others have appeared over
> the years.
>
> No colorized photos have captured the blue of Twain's eyes, the heavy
> yellow tobacco stains on his mustache, or his delicate pink skin, and
> some bestow white hair on him long before age did so.
>
> Fun, as I said at the risk of pooping on a party, but not fact.
>
> 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: "[log in to unmask]" To: Sent:
> Saturday, March 08, 2014 12:44 PM
> Subject: Re: Twain colorized photo
>
>
>> Folks-- This photograph (and the practice of colorization) has
>> already been=
>> discussed on the Forum. See the Forum thread of 10 October 2013 with
>> the S=
>> ubject line "Colorizing photos from 19C: including MT," started by
>> Hal Bush=
>> . Here is a link to that initial Forum posting:
>>
>>
>> https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=3Dind1310&L=3DTWAIN-L&P=3DR1242&I=
>> =3D-3
>>
>> The article cited in his e-mail--containing the same colorized photo
>> of MT,=
>> at Dollis Hill--is still a functioning URL:
>>
>>
>> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2446391/Amazing-Civil-War-photograp=
>> hs-created-colorist-bring-eras-heroes-characters-life-color-time.html
>>
>> The location is verified as Dollis Hill, 1900, per a Forum posting at
>> that =
>> time by none other than Robert Hirst of the Mark Twain Project:
>>
>>
>> https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=3Dind1310&L=3DTWAIN-L&P=3DR1824&I=
>> =3D-3
>>
>> The copyright for that photo, as it appears in the Daily Mail, is
>> "Mads Dah=
>> l Madsen / Dynamichrome."
>>
>> Hope this helps!
>>
>> M. L. Christmas
>>
>> --------------------------------------------
>> On Sat, 3/8/14, Fred Harwood wrote:
>>
>> Subject: Re: Twain colorized photo -
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Date: Saturday, March 8, 2014, 11:37 AM
>> =20
>> The link contains as much as I know
>> about the photo.
>> =20
>> Google around for the source. My brief effort suggested that
>> many have =3D
>> posted it, but without linking to original work.
>> =20
>> =20
>> On Mar 8, 2014, at 9:12 AM, Kit Barry wrote:
>> =20
>>> Thank you for this image. It came out very well on my
>> printer.
>>> Since this image is going into the archive I curate, it
>> would
>>> be most helpful if I could add the following
>> information:
>>> =3D20
>>> =A0 -=A0 When was photograph taken:
>>> =3D20
>>> =A0 -=A0 By whom:
>>> =3D20
>>> =A0 -=A0 Where was photograph taken, as in
>> Hartford, Elmira, other:
>>> =3D20
>>> =A0 -=A0 Was the original photograph a sepia
>> print, black & white:
>>> =3D20
>>> =A0 -=A0 When and by whom was the photograph
>> colorized:
>>> =3D20
>>> =A0 -=A0 Method of colorization:
>>> =3D20
>>> =A0 -=A0 Is it known why this photograph was
>> taken, as in for a special =3D
>> occasion:
>>> =3D20
>>> -=A0 Was this photograph used for a specific
>> purpose, as in publicity:
>>> =3D20
>>> Thanking you in advance,
>>> =3D20
>>> Kit Barry
>>> The Ephemera Archive for American Studies
>>> Brattleboro, Vermont
>> =20
>> Fred Harwood
>> Linwood Cottage
>> Sheffield
>>
>>
>>
>> -----
>> No virus found in this message.
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>> 03/08/14
>>
>
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