On Thu, 30 Jan 1997, Barbara L. Goodman wrote:
> Dear Friends,
> I would like to know the prevailing explanation of MT's having used
such
> a varied and exotic collection of quotations at the beginning of each
chapter
> of The Gilded Age. Barbara L. Goodman
>
Twain and Warner were parodying the prevailing practice of beginning
chapters with quotations. They upped the ante, so to speak, in showing
off worthless erudition.
Gregg Camfield