Thaks Allison. I've looked again at the illustations and you are right. Roxy
is the subsidiary figure in the illustration (after comparing with the later
illustrations again). Given the 'Aunt Jemima' figure is the predominant one
and that this is the first illustration of Roxy seen (in the Autograph
edition too) that raises the interesting possibility that Kemble himself is
playing on the same gap that Twain is - between expectations of
African-American stereotype and a very different reality. Yes? Many thanks
to all who answered.  Pete
>>> aensor <[log in to unmask]> 06/07/06 18:00:55 >>>

Pete, Your question has been answered: the Kemble illustration of Roxy and
others did not appear in the first edition. Kemble has been criticized for
years for having presented Roxy as an "Aunt Jemima" type, in apparent
disregard
of what Twain's text says about her. But I want to mention a possibility
that
is not original with me: can it be that the figure on the right is NOT Roxy?
Could it be that Roxy is the figure whose face we see in the middle?
Would that fit the caption better?  It seems to me a convincing argument,
especially since it makes Kemble not quite so dense.

Allison Ensor
University of Tennessee