BOOK REVIEW

        McWilliams, Jim.  _Mark Twain in the St. Louis Post-
        Dispatch, 1874-1891_.  Troy, NY:  The Whitson Publishing
        Company, 1997.  Pp. 291.  Cloth, 6-1/4" x 9-1/4".
        Index.  $29.50.  ISBN 0-87875-469-5.

        Reviewed for the Mark Twain Forum by:

                Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
                Tarleton State University
                Stephenville, TX

        Copyright (c) Mark Twain Forum, 1997.  This review may not be
        published or redistributed in any medium without
        permission.

Occasionally a book comes along that fills a long-standing void in
Mark Twain studies and paves a smoother way for additional Twain
research.  Jim McWilliams' _Mark Twain in the St. Louis Post-
Dispatch, 1874-1891_ is such a book.

McWilliams began researching the microfilm of the St. Louis Post-
Dispatch newspaper in 1987 with the intention that what he found
would be destined for a "Mark Twain Journal" article.  McWilliams'
research is all the more impressive when viewed in light of the
fact that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has no comprehensive index
of stories.  Thus, McWilliam's research involved examining every
page of every paper that was published over an eighteen year
period.

Eighteen years of newspaper reports produced over 300 articles
related to Missouri's favorite son Mark Twain.  In the interest of
scholarship and a desire to produce a comprehensive picture of the
way Mark Twain was portrayed in one of the leading papers of the
Midwest, McWilliams declined to eliminate even the slightest
references to Twain-- the Journal project died and his collection
has now been released in book form with full text of most of the
articles.

McWilliams begins his volume with a brief history of the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch.  Each article that has been retrieved from
microfilm is referenced by date, day of the week, and the page
number that it originally appeared on.  McWilliams also provides
well-documented reference notes to many of the news items giving
background information related to the story and informing the
reader when the story was inaccurate,completely false, or couldn't
be verified.  In addition, McWilliams provides the original source
of the story if the Post-Dispatch has reprinted it from another
newspaper or journal.

_Mark Twain in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1874-1891_ is a varied
potpourri of items written by Twain; interviews of Twain; speeches
by Twain; anecdotes about Twain; and extracts from letters not
since reprinted.  Numerous gossip column items designed to amuse
and entertain the newspaper reader-- and sometimes designed to
launch an insult at Twain are also presented.

The collection begins with a January 9, 1874 article which quotes
from a letter written by Charles W. Stoddard describing his
activities in England with Twain and ends on December 6, 1891
with a Twain essay sent from Bayreuth, Germany.  Between 1874 and
1891 are noteworthy articles such as those relating to Twain's
John Calvin bust-- written by an anonymous correspondent;
interviews with Horace Bixby-- Twain's former mentor during his
river pilot days; Twain's 1881 letter to President Garfield
written in support of Frederick Douglass for a public office; a
backstage interview with Twain during his lecture tour with George
Washington Cable; an interview with Twain reminiscing about his
days in Washington when he was secretary to Senator Stewart; an
anecdote on the Hartford house plumbing; Twain's letter written in
response to a pension fund mix-up; a humorous and salty letter
written in response to new postal regulations; an account of a
George Washington Cable April Fool's joke; an article on the
obscene Huck Finn engraving; Twain's eulogy to a watch; and
Twain's account of how he removed his own tattoo via the wart
removal method.  The Post-Dispatch also provided continuing
coverage of Twain's efforts on behalf of an international
copyright agreement.  Some of the longer articles and essays that
appeared in the Post-Dispatch will be familiar to Twain scholars
from having appeared in Twain's _Sketches, New and Old_, _A Tramp
Abroad_, and _The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_.

Scattered throughout the news reports are priceless Twain quotes
relating to the Bible, mosquito netting, and newspapers-- "I shall
never start a newspaper so long as I can buy three for less than
it costs to have my boots blackened" (p. 209).

On a deeper level, however, _Mark Twain in the St. Louis Post-
Dispatch, 1874-1891_ provides an overview of the critical
treatment a native son received at the hands of the St. Louis
press.  At times it is a disturbing picture comparable to
twentieth century supermarket tabloid journalism.  A preoccupation
with Twain's financial affairs, his Hartford mansion, and his book
sales runs rampant through the gossip columns of the Post-
Dispatch.  The Post-Dispatch kept its readers informed of such
trivialities as when Twain had the mumps; the Quarry Farm water
troughs; the number of cigars Twain smoked a day; and when he was
feuding with George Washington Cable.

A surprising number of slurs and insults written by the Post-
Dispatch staff were hurled at Twain through gossip columns with
titles such as "Spice Box", "Post Pencilings", and "Men of Mark."
Whether the "Men of Mark" column was so named because of the
number of times Mark Twain's name appeared in it is a question
McWilliams has left unanswered.  Following Twain's embarrassing
Whittier banquet appearance, the Post-Dispatch wrote "Had Mark
Twain lived at that early day he would have made the apostles
appear ridiculous at the last supper" (p. 80).  In 1887 another
anonymous columnist wrote, "Mark Twain talks of endowing a home
for pumped-out humorists, and there are those who believe that
Twain ought to be given a front room in it." (p. 212).  A more
comprehensive and in-depth analysis of Twain's critical treatment
at the hands of the Post-Dispatch is a topic McWilliams is
planning to address in a future essay.

McWilliams ends his research in 1891-- the year Twain and his
family departed for an extended stay in Europe.  McWilliams
explains, "He did not literally die until 1910, but it is not an
exaggeration to say that creatively he had died in 1891." (p. 4).
Some Twain scholars may disagree.

_Mark Twain in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1874-1891_ should
prove itself a useful tool in Twain research and it is hoped that
it will inspire similar research to retrieve additional writings
long since forgotten.