Just think of the thousands of lectures MT gave during his life. What a 
shame no one had the foresight to be certain his voice was preserved with 
the technology of the early 20th century.
I've often thought of writing a novel depicting the modern discovery of some 
of those lost cylinders, and the uproar that would cause in the literary and 
legal worlds, who would have the rights, much intrigue, etc.
The 1980s discovery of the 2nd half of the Huck Finn MS would make a novel 
like this very plausible. In fact, when I finish the trilogy I'm presently 
working on, I might just tackle that project.
Tim Champlin
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Harold Bush" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 6:31 PM
Subject: Re: Twain Recording?


> Hi Sue, those Edison recording were destroyed in a fire, and as far as is
> known, no verified recordings of MT have survived.
>
> I would add that Yale does have one recording, believed to be William
> Gillette (I think), who was an impersonator who know Twain personally and
> was supposedly quite accurate in his mimicry.  There must be others of 
> him,
> which I would liken to someone like Rich Little doing Johnny Carson.  i.e.
> pretty accurate.  It is plausible that it is not Gillette, and in fact MT
> himself; I remember hearing that from someone in the Beinecke at Yale many
> years back.  They just had no way of knowing.  My guess = it is also
> plausible that somehwere out there, somehow, a recording of MT may exist,
> like that old manuscript of Huck Finn....
>
> I also vaguely recall having a discussion on this LIST long ago, and I'd
> love to hear other views.
>
> --Hal B.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 5:42 PM, Harris, Susan Kumin <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Today a colleague asked me if there were any extant recordings of Twain's
>> v=
>> oice, and I realized that I have a memory of someone talking about an
>> Ediso=
>> n recording--but also that it may have been destroyed.  Can someone set 
>> me
>> =
>> straight on this?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thank you!  --susan harris
>>
> -- 
> Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
> Professor of English
> Saint Louis University
> St. Louis, MO  63108
> 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h)
> <www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>