Any bonus is better than none! Thanks for the clarification.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Nov 14, 2017, at 9:21 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