I don't want to do it unless I do it right, and my stack of "to-do" writings
is long. But it's on the list, outlined, with a folder full of notes and
citations already done. All in good time.
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: Arianne .
Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2017 3:50 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Mark Twain Scrapbook
Kevin, I'm glad to hear you have already put together some notes on the
scrapbooks.
I understand that other projects may have priority, but I'm pleased to hear
scrapabooks are in the line.
THANKS
Arianne laidlaw
On Tue, Nov 14, 2017 at 6:21 AM, Kevin Mac Donnell <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Yes, probably me. In my catalogue notes I cite Letters 5:145.n4 which
> confirms that a statement dated 1-12-78 covering the last six months of
> sales indicated that 26,310 scrapbooks had been sold by that time and
> Twain
> had been paid about $1,000. I don't have the source handy, but I also
> record
> that his profits eventually topped $12,000. I don't have a date handy for
> that citation, but it's in my notes.
>
> Among my two dozen articles in progress, I have an outline and folder of
> research on the scrapbook, including a mass of advertising data on them,
> catalogues describing the formats, various patent records covering 1873 to
> 1902, contemporary reviews, etc. The examples I have show how people did
> and
> did not use them, and reveal formats not included in Slote's catalogues
> and
> ads. I also have a lot of material on Dan Slote and his business. Slote
> seems to have given them away to his female friends from time to time.
> I've
> invested a good deal of time (and a few $$) in my research, but two other
> research projects are more pressing at the moment. I'll eventually get
> back
> to it and write up a full account. None of the accounts I've read on the
> scrapbook are entirely satisfactory or give full accounts.
>
> I think the multiplier for late 19th century dollars is 25, so Twain
> perhaps
> made $300,000 in modern dollars from the scrapbook. That does not smell
> like
> failure to me. They also spread his fame in a positive way for 25 years.
>
> 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: Alan Kitty
> Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2017 7:06 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Mark Twain Scrapbook
>
> Someone - possibly you Kevin, considering your collection - mentioned that
> p=
> rofits were in the neighborhood of $10,000. By itself, the number sounds
> lik=
> e success. But over 20-30 years, maybe not so much. Is that a verifiable
> num=
> ber?
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Nov 13, 2017, at 9:23 PM, Kevin Mac Donnell
> > <[log in to unmask]
> OM> wrote:
> >=20
> > The Mark Twain Scrapbook is nicely written up in a book on scrapbooking
> > th=
> at=20
> > I reviewed in the Forum a few years ago. As claimed in the
> > advertisements,=
> =20
> > it was a clear improvement over the practice of having to apply your
> > own=20=
>
> > paste. That could get messy. I have over 50 examples--all different
> > cover=20=
>
> > designs and sizes--and this includes some unused ones. The pages do
> > often=20=
>
> > stick together, but this should not comes as a surprise for a book kept
> > ov=
> er=20
> > 100 years in a barn, house, or attic without the benefit of humidity
> > and=20=
>
> > temperature control. I'd get a bit sticky myself, probably within days.
> > Bu=
> t=20
> > I have many more examples whose pages have not stuck together, and the
> > glu=
> e=20
> > is remarkably stable. The glue used in some self-adhesive photo albums
> > of=20=
>
> > the 1970s is notoriously unstable and often reacts very badly and
> > destroys=
> =20
> > whatever is stuck in the album. Not so with the Mark Twain Scrapbooks.
> >=20
> > The thing was a success and was produced from 1877 to at least 1901
> > (the=20=
>
> > date of the last catalogue I have listing them).
> >=20
> > 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
> >=20
> >=20
> > -----Original Message-----=20
> > From: Martin Zehr
> > Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2017 12:46 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Mark Twain Scrapbook
> >=20
> > Mark Twain scrapbooks are not in the rare category of Twain
> > collectibles,
> > as far as I can determine, and Kevin Mac Donnell can attest. They come
> > in
> > a=
>
> > variety of covers and sizes, with the "Mark Twain" trademark prominently
> > displayed inside the front cover. They come up on ebay once in awhile
> > and
> > I've purchased three over the years, none which were expensive. They
> > were=
>
> > available from the 1870s into the 20th century. The examples I have
> > were
> > used and are interesting artifacts to peruse, the owners inserting news
> > items, bad poetry and personal items. An unused example would
> > undoubtedly=
>
> > be more expensive, but undoubtedly less interesting.
> > Martin Zehr
> >=20
> > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=3Demail&utm_
> source=3Dlink&utm_=
> campaign=3Dsig-email&utm_content=3Dwebmail&utm_term=3Dicon>
> > Virus-free.
> > www.avast.com
> > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=3Demail&utm_
> source=3Dlink&utm_=
> campaign=3Dsig-email&utm_content=3Dwebmail&utm_term=3Dlink>
> > <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
> >=20
> >> On Sat, Nov 11, 2017 at 3:17 AM, Arianne . <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >>=20
> >> Thank y ou so much. One of his scrapbooks plays a large part in
> >> my interest in Twain. I've never checked, but I wonder if any blank
> >> ones ever come up for sale. I imagine plenty of used ones might. I
> >> assume the collection of scrapbooks held by the Mark Twain Project
> >> in Berkeley contain examples of scrapbooks the family created before
> >> the patent and some they made after.
> >>=20
> >> THANKS!
> >> Arianne Laidlaw
> >>=20
> >> On Fri, Nov 10, 2017 at 11:38 AM, Robert M Ellsworth
> >> <[log in to unmask]>=
>
> >> wrote:
> >>=20
> >>> Here is a direct link to the Google Patents page for the
> >>> =3D91Improvemen=
> ts
> >> =3D
> >>> in Scrap-books=3D92 patent, from which you can download a PDF copy if
> >>> th=
> e=20
> >>> =3D
> >>> online documentation is too hard to read (as it very often is!)
> >>>=20
> >>> https://www.google.com/patents/US140245
> >>>=20
> >>> The idea is rather interesting: he covers the whole page with =3D
> >>> water-soluble glue or mucilage, and a user moistens just the area
> >>> where=20=
>
> >>> =3D
> >>> something is to go, presumably most easily with a small brush or blot
> >>> of=
>
> >> =3D
> >>> paper. Contemporary ads appear to show something between the treated
> >>> =3D=
>
> >>> gummed pages, perhaps material to which the gum left exposed between
> >>> =3D=
>
> >>> pasted items won=3D92t self-stick in humid locations. Presumably
> >>> there
> >>> i=
> s
> >> =3D
> >>> some care to provide =3D91adhesive=3D92 that will not stick until
> >>> desire=
> d, =3D
> >>> perhaps dusting with (dyed) cornstarch or similar material to form
> >>> what=20=
>
> >>> =3D
> >>> parents with diapered children might know as =3D91a barrier
> >>> layer=3D92.
> >>>=20
> >>> The accounts I=3D92ve read say that he made ample profit from this =3D
> >>> invention, and my guess is that the name recognition was a large part
> >>> of=
>
> >> =3D
> >>> the attractiveness. Perhaps it would still be, if anyone decided to
> >>> =3D=
>
> >>> =3D93re-introduce=3D94 these with modern materials =3D85 I can think
> >>> of
> >>> a=
> few=20
> >>> =3D
> >>> improvements just looking at the patent drawings.=3D
> >>>=20
> >>=20
> >>=20
> >>=20
> >> --
> >> Arianne Laidlaw A '58
> >>=20
>
--
Arianne Laidlaw A '58
|
