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Subject:
From:
"Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 16 Nov 2005 16:12:06 -0600
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Twain invented it, and contrary to some accounts it actually worked
reasonably well and enjoyed steady sales past the turn of the century. Of
course, after one-hundred years some unused pages will stick together if the
thing is exposed to any humidity during a century of disuse.

Largest size I've seen is 12 x 11 inches; smallest size I've seen fits in a
shirt pocket. Bindings were usually cloth, often decorated, and sometimes
3/4 leather. Sometimes found in full leather with fancy gilding, but those
are scarce. The pocket size format was bound in manilla card-wrappers. The
best binding I've seen is one with a frog sitting on a toadstool (what
else?) reading a book, similar to the image that appeared on the front
wrapper of Twain's 1874 SKETCHES #1.

It was also patented in England and France, and I have a variety of
advertising pieces used to promote it in the US, France, and England --a
cloth-bound catalogue; yellow, pink. and white paper leaflets of various
sizes; accordion-fold leaflets; and even a blank notebook issued in France
to advertise this scrapbook. It was also advertised on the endpapers of
Twain's PUNCH BROTHERS PUNCH (1878). I have over 30 different examples of
the scrapbook in various sizes and bindings. They are common, even in
excellent condition.

Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX

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