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From:
Benjamin GRIFFIN <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 13 Jan 2015 13:04:28 -0800
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I'd like to mention that, so far as I can tell, it's a myth that Twain and
Cable were ever billed as "Twins of Genius." I'm preparing a little article
about this often-repeated mistake.

James B. Pond did advertise Bill Nye and James Whitcomb Riley as "Twins of
Genius," in 1889-1890.  By 1900, when Pond wrote his memoir Eccentricities
of Genius, his memory slipped and he transferred that label, retroactively
and wrongly, to his earlier Twain-Cable tour (Eccentricities of Genius, p.
231).

No doubt that is where Guy Cardwell picked up the phrase which he used as
the title of his book on the Twain-Cable tour, which has made it a
commonplace of MT scholarship. (In that book he does not cite any source
for the "T. of G." phrase at all.)

Of course this is the right forum to ask that, if anyone knows of anything
suggesting that Twain and Cable were billed as Twins of Genius, in 1884-85
or any other time, I'll provide my customary rueful retraction.

Ben Griffin
Mark Twain Project
Berkeley

On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 11:04 AM, Benjamin GRIFFIN <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> I'd like to mention that, so far as I can tell, it's a myth that Twain and
> Cable were ever billed as "Twins of Genius." I'm preparing a little article
> about this often-repeated mistake.
>
> James B. Pond did advertise Bill Nye and James Whitcomb Riley as "Twins of
> Genius," in 1889-1890.  By 1900, when Pond wrote his memoir Eccentricities
> of Genius, his memory slipped and he transferred that label, retroactively
> and wrongly, to his earlier Twain-Cable tour (Eccentricities of Genius, p.
> 231).
>
> No doubt that is where Guy Cardwell picked up the phrase which he used as
> the title of his book on the Twain-Cable tour, which has made it a
> commonplace of MT scholarship. (In that book he does not cite any source
> for the "T. of G." phrase at all.)
>
> Of course this is the right forum to ask that, if anyone knows of anything
> suggesting that Twain and Cable were billed as Twins of Genius, in 1884-85
> or any other time, I'll provide my customary rueful retraction.
>
> Ben Griffin
> Mark Twain Project
> Berkeley
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 12, 2015 at 12:38 PM, Scott Holmes <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> I just received a copy of this book two days ago and I've become
>> immersed in the broad topic of cultural milieu, then and now.  I'm
>> rather disappointed in myself for not paying much attention to Andrew
>> Levy's points all these years.  I don't particularly fit the profile he
>> draws of most readers today in that I never thought of Huck Finn as
>> centered on racism.  My own take has always been that this was a story
>> of an outsider, a waif on the edge of society.  I considered that
>> Twain's intention was to use this as a vantage point for criticizing
>> that society.
>>
>> I've only just begun a close reading and I've already been distracted by
>> my own research into The Twins of Genius Tour.  I must have read about
>> it in passing but it was not until now that I've thought about it.  My
>> first big find in this research was
>> http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/huckfinn/hftourhp.html
>> Wonderful job.
>>
>> Anyway, there seem to be a large number of reviews appearing and all are
>> very positive.  I'm anxious to hear what Twain-Lians have to say about
>> this.  I think it's going to stir that pot about the ending of the book.
>> It seems Tom Sawyer's complex escape plans for Jim may have been the
>> most popular part of The Twins of Genius Tour, at least Twain's part of
>> the tour.  Just the reverse view is now held.  My thought on the matter
>> is that if the racist elements of this segment were eliminated it would
>> be considered a success.  It would be pure slap stick/vaudeville type
>> humor, minstrelsy without the blackface, just replace Jim with Laurel or
>> Hardy or one of the Stooges.
>>
>> Just some thoughts...
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Benjamin Griffin
> Associate Editor, Mark Twain Project
> The Bancroft Library
> University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000
> (510) 664-4238
>



-- 
Benjamin Griffin
Associate Editor, Mark Twain Project
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000
(510) 664-4238

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