TWAIN-L Archives

Mark Twain Forum

TWAIN-L@YORKU.CA

Options: Use Classic View

Use Proportional Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Mac Donnell Rare Books <[log in to unmask]>
Sun, 19 Jan 2020 17:44:22 +0000
text/plain (60 lines)
See John Cooley's Mark Twain's Aquarium (p 104) for good info on those 
pins as well as the document Twain drew up organizing the club, and 
naming himself, his daughter Clara, and Isabel Lyon as officers.

I own four variations of the pins (they came in two sizes):


Joy Paine's small pin (she was too young to be an "official" angelfish 
but was given a pin), from Paine estate.

Twain's own pin, larger than those given the girls, with a white wreath 
around it, from Paine's estate.

A hat pin (large) that belonged to Isabel Lyon.

Clara's small pin, mounted as a pendant along with Twain's gold half of 
the clamshell he divided between himself and Angelfish Margaret 
Blackmer. These are from Clara's estate.

Louise Paine gave her own pin to the Mark Twain Library in Redding. I 
think some spare pins were retained in Paine's papers and files when MTP 
acquired what was left a few years ago.

Somebody showed up on Antiques Roadshow years ago with a horrible piece 
of costume jewelry that supposedly had belonged to an angelfish, and the 
appraiser, in a hilarious leap of faith (aka confirmation bias), decided 
it was an angelfish pin. I think the Antiques Roadshow people later 
removed that from their online archives.

The pins Twain used were made in Norway and sold commercially, so it is 
critical that there be a rock-solid provenance with any particular pin.

I never wear mine; I have no accessorizing skills.

Kevin
@
Mac Donnell Rare Books
9307 Glenlake Drive
Austin TX 78730
512-345-4139
Member: ABAA, ILAB, BSA

You can browse our books at:
www.macdonnellrarebooks.com


------ Original Message ------
From: "Barbara Schmidt" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 1/19/2020 11:11:18 AM
Subject: Re: Angelfish pins

>Photos of a couple of the pins can be found in this article. I am not sure
>how many more may be out there in private collections.
>
>http://www.twainquotes.com/angelfish/angelfish.html
>
>Barb
>

ATOM RSS1 RSS2