S.L. Clemens saw "A Panorama of Australia, China, and the Japanese
Expedition" by Edward Boneau in St. Louis; he praised it in the Muscatine
_Journal_, 24-26 Feb 1855 (_Mark Twain's Letters, vol. 1, 1853-1866_, 50-51,
53n7. Leon Pomarede's "Panorama of the Mississippi River and Indian Life,"
said to be 1800 yards long, was shown in St. Louis in 1849, and John
Banvard's "Panorama of the Mississippi," said to be 3 miles long, was
exhibited in 1846. I don't know if Clemens saw either one, though.

At least one panorama still survives: the pictorial record of a year-long
whaling voyage, two panels of which (ca. 20' long x 7' high) are on display
at the Old Dartmouth Historical Society (aka the New Bedford Whaling
Museum). It's worth a visit. At one time, it was on temporary display
running around the walls of a large vacant supermarket, but rolling and
unrolling it to show it as originally intended would damage it, and no one
can afford a space large enough to show it all at once. A film of it was
contemplated. Don't know if it was ever made.

Kenneth M. Sanderson
Mark Twain Papers