More about Hal Holbrook's performance: I too am sorry
Camy had a bad experience; I guess we at the Clemens Center in Elmira
were luckier. One very interesting thing happened. At one point
Holbrook paused on stage, stared out at the audience, and said, "I've
forgotten my lines. ... That's the first time that's ever happened."
He seemed utterly surprised and distressed. After a few silent
moments, the auditorium burst into applause. We hadn't noticed any
lapse, and if he had wanted to, he could have simply gone into other
material and we wouldn't have known. I think we were saying we
appreciated his candor and maybe, "We don't care; we're just thrilled
to enjoy one more time your incredible performance at 80 years old."
A few folk thought his performance was too dark and had wished for
more "uplifting" humor. But as we know that was also Mark Twain
himself especially in _his_ later years. In what likely
for many of us in Elmira was our last Holbrook performance, I sensed
that his material was a reaction to the current "mess o' Potamia" and
the continuous lies still told by this administration, and probably
Holbrook has thought much about how Twain would react to the likes of
Bush etc. We know Twain was an expert on liars. That's why I
enjoyed the postings here about how Twain would be similarly reacting
to the idiocy of Coulter and the rest of her ilk. I would enjoy from
you all more speculation about how Twain would react to current
politics, and some of you might want to check out Howard Zinn's
"Patriotism and the Fourth of July," wherein he refers to Twain's
derision of what he called "monarchical patriotism." Go to
http://www.alternet.org/story/38463/
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 13:43:05 +0100
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Peter Messent <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Pudd'nhead
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A query. Harper's 1904 edition of Pudd'nhead Wilson has a frontispiece
illustration by E.W. Kemble of Roxy titled "harvesting among the kitchens" -
giving her a stout body, head-kerchief and coal-black features. I assume
this is taken from the 1894 first edition but could someone who has a copy
just confirm that fact, and whether the illustration is in the same place
(frontispiece) with the same title. Thanks. Pete
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 09:01:59 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Tony or Susan Verhulst <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Pudd'nhead
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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No. My first edition (birthday present from my wife) has a photograph
of a middle aged Clemens in a white suit, standing on a porch and
leaning against a column.
Tony
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 09:08:34 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Pudd'nhead
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Pete; I am looking at the Oxford reprint of the first edition of PW, and
there is no frontis illustration of Roxy.
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
St. Louis, MO
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 12:08:38 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Pudd'nhead
In May, 1898, Kemble accepted Bliss's offer to make new illustrations for
Twain's 1899 collected works. The illustration you cite appears at p. 93 of
PW in the 1899 edition. Those illustrations were used by Harper after they
acquired the rights to Twain's works, but were moved around in the text
after 1903. I have that letter Kemble sent Bliss, plus one of Kemble's
original drawings for the 1899 edition of HF (one of four new drawings he
did for that work), one of Kemble's original 1885 drawings for HF, an
archive of copyright and publisher's's documents relating to the 1899
edition, and original drawings by other artists for the collected edition,
and even Bliss's ink-stained wooden crate that held that held the printing
plates for the 1899 HF. There could be something in the archive of
publisher's documents on PW that could be of use to you --it's mostly
contracts or copyright papers. No original art work for PW; I have some for
FTE, $30,000 BEQUEST, and P&P; maybe others. Happy to look around this
weekend, if you wish.
Kevin Mac Donnell
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 18:16:58 +0100
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Peter Messent <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Fwd: Roxy in Pudd'nhead Wilson
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Thaks Allison. I've looked again at the illustations and you are right. Roxy
is the subsidiary figure in the illustration (after comparing with the later
illustrations again). Given the 'Aunt Jemima' figure is the predominant one
and that this is the first illustration of Roxy seen (in the Autograph
edition too) that raises the interesting possibility that Kemble himself is
playing on the same gap that Twain is - between expectations of
African-American stereotype and a very different reality. Yes? Many thanks
to all who answered. Pete
>>> aensor <[log in to unmask]> 06/07/06 18:00:55 >>>
Pete, Your question has been answered: the Kemble illustration of Roxy and
others did not appear in the first edition. Kemble has been criticized for
years for having presented Roxy as an "Aunt Jemima" type, in apparent
disregard
of what Twain's text says about her. But I want to mention a possibility
that
is not original with me: can it be that the figure on the right is NOT Roxy?
Could it be that Roxy is the figure whose face we see in the middle?
Would that fit the caption better? It seems to me a convincing argument,
especially since it makes Kemble not quite so dense.
Allison Ensor
University of Tennessee
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 13:15:11 -0400
Reply-To: Stephen Railton <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Stephen Railton <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Pudd'nhead
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Peter --
The illustration you mention raises questions that I don't
think any one answer will cover. You can see that
illustration, plus another of Roxy that indicates she is
actually in the background of the frontispiece, not the
foreground, and more, in the PW section of my site, at
<http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/wilson/pwillshp.html>
I'd like very much to hear what others on the Forum think
about this topic -- and how I try to represent it on the
site.
Thanks,
Steve Railton
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 14:12:30 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Roxy in Pudd'nhead Wilson
There is also an illustration of Roxy at p 169 of the 1899 edition, and she
matches the figure that appears in the middle of the illustration in
question. Clearly, Kemble did not depict her as an "Aunt Jemima" figure.
After further checking I suspect these illustrations are not new ones drawn
by Kemble in 1898/9, but more likely the ones that accompanied the original
magazine appearance in Century Mag Dec 93--June 94).
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 16:24:43 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Judith Yaross Lee <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Mark Twain Cigars
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Has anyone identified a date for the introduction of Mark Twain Cigars?
Boxes dated 1909 and 1910 are common, as are comments that the cigars were
marketed in the 1880s. In his ALS review for 2001, Alan Gribben mentions
an illustration in the Ken Burns book showing an 1877 MT Cigars boxtop--the
earliest date I've seen, but hard to authenticate.
Thanks,
Judith Yaross Lee, Ph.D.
Lasher Hall, Ohio University
Athens, OH
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 16:21:27 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Mark Twain Cigars
I have eight different Mark Twain Cigar boxes, plus another four or five
inner labels for which no boxes seem to have survived.
The earliest I have (or am aware) was printed by Heppenheimer & Maurer of NY
for Aschermann & Co., and issued between 1877 and 1880. It has Aschermann's
patent date of 1877, uses images from IA, Sk, and RI, and Twain's image is
copied from the 1874 photo by Warren. This same design was used, in part, on
a trade card issued by Heppenheimer (see Seeyle, MT AT THE MOVIES, p. 13,
for an illus.). I have a good example of that card. This same design was
also used by William Rohlfing for sheet music he published in 1880, with
slight alterations in the original lithographic stone. Therefore, I'd date
this cigar box between 1877 and 1880. The fellow whose sales label is glued
to the box is in the 1880 census as a "tobacconist." I have not checked a
NYC directory to confirm the years Heppenheimer & Maurer were at 22 and 24 N
Williams Street, nor have I been able to search the online patent records
with any success to verify whether Aschermann's claim of a patent was valid
(I can hardly imagine it was...). The next earliest MT Cigar box I can date
with certainty is 1889 with Twain's image woodburned into the box as well as
printed on the label, and the next is a label (no box known for this design)
dated 1902. Others date from 1902-20s, possibly some earlier, but
establishing a firm date for some is tricky.
The common and familiar cigar label (a large inner label with Twain at
center, flanked by Tom and Huck, and the caption KNOWN TO EVERYONE--LIKED BY
ALL) was first printed in 1913 (I have some proofs as well as the original
embossing plate), and it was in use until the 1940s, perhaps even to the
1950s. I have a box of those with all the cigars still in it. They are very
brittle and bitter and when lit they burst into flames and "poof" before
your eyes --right before your eyes-- before you can smoke 'em -- unless you
no longer have hair to set ablaze, or you can rig up a holder of some sort.
Not sure you'd want to smoke one anyway. Second hand-smoke; first-hand
flames.
Twain's image was also used to advertise Lone Jack (1887), Duke (1887/8),
and Mogul (1910) cigarettes.
I have a lot of tobacco advertising, English and American, using Twain's
name and/or image, including counter-cards, a pug-dog counter stand
(possibly for chewing tobacco; it's not clear), trade cards, packaging,
etc., and there could easily be some I've overlooked or forgotten at the
moment.
But for cigars the earliest I've found is the box I describe above.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 16:53:03 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Twain cigar images
I should have mentioned that images of a few of the Mark Twain Cigar things
I mentioned can be seen at this fine site that is worth exploring in full.
This link should work. To see an enlargement of an image just click on the
image itself.
http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/sc_as_mt/merchandiz/macdonnell.html
Some of the info is slightly out of date (new things have been discovered
since these images were made some years ago), but the Heppenheimer trade
card is at the center of the image showing various tobacco cards (the Mogul,
Duke, and Lone Jack that I mentioned), and several boxes are shown, although
not the earliest one (the selection was based on what the photographer could
fit into each image, the needs of the site's owner, etc.). The pug-dog
counter stand is sitting in one of the boxes. Stay. Good dog.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 20:13:02 +0200
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: camy <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Twain's voice
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Dear Group:
I don't mean to be trite, but I wonder how Mark Twain must have sounded.
His voice must have been quite powerful to project to several thousand
people without the advantage of body mikes or any amplification. Also, I'd
be fascinated to speak with some one from Hanibal and know how the Hannibal
Missouri accent sounds. What was Twain's demeanor during the lecture? Did
he pace the platform and roam restlessly as Holbrook did? Did he ever
interact with the audience, and is any of this interaction written down and
available? I haven't found any on the web sites noted.
Thank you for reading my rambling.
A new twainian,
Camy
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 18:47:08 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Gordon Snedecor <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain's voice
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Camy &c.
Your first choice is:
Fatout, Paul, Mark Twain Speaking. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press,
1976.
This will be reprinted at year end; this is the single most comprehensive
(but not completely so) compilation of MT's lectures. Fatuout's
Introduction is not to be missed! I would think tracing those actors &
performers who played MT in the first decades after his death might uncover
some audio files of persons who actually heard MT speaking. Delivery is
only partially a function of accent; for SLC timing was everything!
Gordon Snedecor in Portland, Oregon
=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2006 13:01:00 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: BOOKS AND MEDIA: Briefly Noted
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BOOKS
_Stories for Young People: Mark Twain_ edited by Gregg Camfield.
Illustrated by Sally Wern Comport. Hardcover. 80 pages. 10.3 x 9.0 x 0.6
inches. Sterling Publishing, 2005. ISBN: 1402711786. $14.95. With colorful
and eye-catching illustrations, this collection (recommended for grades
6-9) will be one that many Twain Forum members will want to add to their
own bookshelves. The book includes a brief introduction, "An Encounter with
an Interviewer," "The Invalid's Story," "Advice to Youth," "The £1,000,000
Banknote," and "A Fable." There is a short section for word definitions at
the bottom of many pages to introduce young readers to vocabulary words
which may be new to them.
Amazon webpage for this book is:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1402711786/twainwebmarktwaiA
~~~~~
_The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_ edited by Lucy Rollin. Softcover. 315 pages.
Broadview Press, 2006. ISBN: 1551116529. $9.95. This edition of Mark
Twain's novel contains a wealth of introductory material, four appendixes
and a bibliography. The supplementary material focuses on composition of
the original manuscript, marketing, contemporary reviews; Twain's memories
of Hannibal; other "Bad Boys and Boy Books" of the nineteenth century; and
"Small Town American Childhood in the 1840s."
The publisher's table of contents webpage for this book is:
http://www.broadviewpress.com/bvcontents.asp?BookID=754
Amazon web page for this book is:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1551116529/twainwebmarktwaiA
~~~~~
_Mark Twain in St. Louis: A Biographical Tour Through Bellefontaine
Cemetery_ by Manuel Garcia. Softcover. 156 pages (unpaginated). 7 7/8 x 10
x 3/8 inches. Privately published, no ISBN. $15.00 + $2.00 postage. An
illustrated guidebook for touring Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis,
Missouri. The book was written by cemetery employee Manuel Garcia, formerly
of the _St. Louis Dispatch_ newspaper. Garcia has studied Mark Twain's
works, correspondence, notebooks and biographies for names of people Twain
knew and wrote about who were buried in Bellefontaine cemetery. Garcia's
book contains brief biographies and supplemental information along with
maps of gravesites (and former gravesites) of such notables as George
Horatio Derby; steamboat pilots Beck Jolly, Zebulon Leavenworth, Isaiah
Sellers, Horace Bixby and George Ealer; family members such as the Moffetts
and Lamptons; Samuel Taylor Glover (the inspiration for attorney Pudd'nhead
Wilson); and a host of others who were part of Twain's life. The book will
be a valuable research aid for anyone planning a walking research tour of
Bellefontaine in St. Louis, Missouri. (NONFICTION)
Information on available copies may be obtained from the author:
Manuel Garcia, 43C Quarry Court, Golden Eagle, IL 62036
~~~~~
_After the Bones_ by Mark Hazard Osmun. Softcover. 363 pages. 6 x 9 inches.
Twelfth Night Press, 2006. ISBN: 0-9673-0791-0. $16.95. A novel of
political intrigue, murder and conspiracy set in the Sandwich Islands
(Hawaii) in 1866 featuring Mark Twain in his role as a traveling reporter
for the _Sacramento Daily Union_ newspaper. (FICTION)
This novel is available only via the author's website at:
http://www.lulu.com/content/271964
Barbara Schmidt
Book Review Editor
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 11:59:17 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Judith Yaross Lee <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain cigar images
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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All these details are very helpful. Thank you so much, Kevin! (I have seen
the images on Railton's excellent site and the ones being peddled by Barnes
and Noble, and I own a metal enameled version of the captioned "KNOWN TO
EVERYONE--LIKED BY ALL" image.) I understood from Bob Hirst that MT wrote
that caption, so it must have antedated the 1913 image. Do you know what,
if any,involvement he had with the earlier cigar images?
Judith Yaross Lee, Ph.D.
Lasher Hall, Ohio University
Athens, OH
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 12:09:23 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Judith Yaross Lee <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain's voice
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Audio files of actors imitating Twain's voice are available at
<http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/onstage/voice.html>
Judith Yaross Lee, Ph.D.
Lasher Hall, Ohio University
Athens, OH
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 13:43:44 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain cigar images
A quick search in the Twain's World CD might turn up the source of the
phrase used on that label. If somebody can source it, I'd love to know. If
it comes from Twain's own words, I'd suspect it originates with a letter,
speech, or interview. But that label was not in use until 1913.
A search through patent records will turn up a variety of products using
Twain's name (or image), and I have hundreds of examples of advertising for
such products (and often the products themselves) in my personal collection
that used Twain's name or image during his lifetime with his knowledge. I
know Twain allowed a shirt collar company to use his name in the 1880s (the
shirt collars found today using his name date from the 1920s) and I know
that Ralph Ashcroft registered "Mark Twain Cigars" as a trademark in 1909.
Twain himself wrote Chatto & Windus about trademarking "Mark Twain" in 1883,
and may have taken steps to protect its use earlier than that. I cannot
recall any instance where Twain was directly involved in the design of any
advertising for a product that used his name or image. There are plenty of
references in his letters to various people who used his name for commercial
purposes without his permission, which usually prompted a letter from Twain
to his publisher or attorney instructing them to send a nasty-gram.
That 1913 label (unused printer's stock) is widely available for sale for
very little money (I think the number that turned up in the 1970s was
between 5,000 and 7,000) and it has been reproduced as a mouse pad that was
sold at the Hartford House & Museum, and perhaps others. You might check
their websites to see if you can still get one. The metal sign is a modern
reproduction based on that label, but it's a "fantasy" item -- there was
never any metal sign that used that design. There was, however, a metal sign
produced that advertised those cigars that used just the "Liked by All"
phrase, but the design is quite different; I have one from the 1920s/30s.
I'm not sure if I sent an image of that sign to Steve Railton's website.
Original cigar boxes using that label also turn up regularly. I also have in
my personal collection a 1930s two-foot tall cardboard counter-sign
advertising those cigars, showing a box of them with that label.
I think it's fair to say you could furnish a home, travel by boat or car,
prepare a dinner, cure what ails you, play cards or other games, and dress
yourself using the products that have been sold using Twain's name. Well,
you'd not have any socks, but you'd have shoes, pants, shirt, and a nice fur
coat.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 18:38:48 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "J.Dean" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain cigar images
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Does anyone know where there might be a large enough image of this
cigar label on the internet that I could download it and use it for my
desktop?
Thanks,
Jerry
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 22:52:13 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain cigar images
Go to google images and search using the words: mark twain cigars
Four images of this label come right up, and I'd think you could use one of
those and enlarge it to fit your desktop.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 23:12:21 +0900
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Dr. Ron Dutcher" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Mark Twain Endorsements
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Just out of curriosity.... Has anyone compiled a list of known MT
endorsements?
Stay Well
RD
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 09:53:18 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain cigar images
I have a sharp example of that label, but I can't send scans to everybody
who might want one myself (my time and geekish skills are limited) but I'd
be happy to send a scan of it to somebody who could then post it to a
website where members of the MT Forum could go and download copies.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 21:22:37 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Fluck
Have any portions of Winfried Fluck's book on Huck Finn been translated into
English?
Does anyone know of any plans to translate this very good study into
English --or Spanish, or Italian, or French, Latin, or pig-Latin?
The text is so rich with quotes from English studies (quoted in English)
that much of the theory can be inferred, but...
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 20:05:01 +0200
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: camy <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: How good was she?
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Dear group:
I am being totally indoctrinated with Twain biographies. As a kid of
13, when reading Dear, Dear LIvy, I was quite impressed that Clara,
Twain's Daughter, would practice the piano for eight hours a day, when I
couldn't stand to practice for even one hour. She did however take up
singing. Really, does anyone know or has anyone read anything stating
whether she really was a good singer? All of us have read, or if we are
old enough heard, that President Truman's daughter tried to make it as a
classical singer, and it would have been to the world's advantage if she
had not sung. What was the situation with Clara Clemens?
Thank you.
Camy
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 22:15:16 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "J.Dean" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: How good was she?
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v624)
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I don't believe the world suffered unduly because Margaret Truman sang.
Harry thought she was pretty good, and he was right about most things.
I've never heard Clara sing, but now that you brought it up, I would be
curious to hear her, myself. Surely there are recordings out there
somewhere. Anyone know where?
Also, some time back, there was some discussion of what Twain's voice
sounded like. I, too, searched for a sound file of Twain's voice, but,
despite seeing several references to Twain having used early recording
devices to dictate some of his work, apparently none of the cylinders
have come to light and have not, apparently, survived. There is a 9
minute recording of the 19th Century actor William Gillette, who grew
up near Twain, and knew him well, doing an impersonation of him that I
believe is accepted as being as close as possible to the way Twain
spoke. It is much slower than most current portrayers of Twain speak,
to my ear, and would be in line with the description of Twain's speech
being at the speed of about three words a minute.
Does anyone know where the entire 9 minute recording could be
downloaded? I have heard about 3 minutes of it, but would really like
to hear the rest. For those who don't know, it's Gillette telling the
Jumping Frog story.
Jerry
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 06:48:38 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Alex Brink Effgen <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: How good was she?
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I can't say where the entire monologue is recorded, but a quick search
of the internet did provide a "blog" locating its whereabouts at the
Mark Twain House in Hartford.
Read under "Mark Twain and Constance O'Connell."
http://nerofiddled.blogspot.com/2004_05_27_nerofiddled_archive.html
Alex Effgen
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 07:33:31 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: "Kevin J. Bochynski" <[log in to unmask]>
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A partial answer to Clara's vocal talent is found in an excerpt from Russell
McLauchlin's unpublished memoir. McLauchlin was the Music and Drama Critic
for The Detroit News until his retirement in 1955.
Kevin B.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
O.G. THE INCOMPARABLE
Ossip Gabrilowitsch, than whom there was never a more popular pianist or a
more delightful human being, was for many years conductor of the Detroit
Symphony Orchestra. He was, of course, a Russian by birth. He acquired
English to perfection and taught himself to use it colloquially.
“That new horn-player of ours is a peach,” he would say, in completely
unaccented words.
He became an American in every detail but the pictorial. He had what is
sometimes called “wild hair” and he wore the highest starched collars ever
seen. We all wondered where he bought them. There was one theory that his
wife made them in her sewing-room. He was tall and slender, with
strongly-marked features and an outsized nose.
That wife of his was the daughter of Mark Twain, to whom her husband always
referred as “the old gentleman.” He wore the old man’s watch-chain across
his waistcoat and he held him in what you might call jolly veneration.
All the musical and journalistic professions in Detroit cut the stately
Russian entitlement to “O.G.” Generally, his nickname was “Gabby.”
Mrs. O.G. was a beautiful woman and it was sad that their daughter inherited
her father’s cast of countenance, instead of her mother’s. There is a story
that once, long before the Gabrilowitsch marriage, a musical afternoon was
held in the Mark Twain home. The old gentleman introduced the participants,
among whom were the youthful O.G. and David Bispham, the baritone, who is,
alas, forgotten nowadays.
The feature of the program was Clara Clemens, who insisted on being
considered a musician. But she didn’t fool her father.
“We shall now hear from my daughter Clara,” said the old gentleman. “She is,
they tell me, a mezzo-soprano. She is not quite so good a musician as Mr.
Gabrilowitsch and Mr. Bispham, but she is much better looking.”
In the long years of O.G.’s incumbency with the Detroit Symphony, the wife
of his bosom was occasionally presented as soloist, not at the weekend “pop”
but to the stately audience of subscribers. What domestic pressures fruited
into those events, I cannot say. All I can say is that they were exceedingly
tough on the working press. Mrs. Gabrilowitsch, who was always billed as
“Mme. Clara Clemens,” was not a good singer. We all felt the utmost respect
and affection for her husband. In our few encounters, we found her a woman
of breeding and charm. But the fact remained that her vocal gifts were
several kilometers short of great. The problem was, how [to] report on Mme.
Clemens without wounding O.G.?
I was kind of proud of what I did, once. I wrote all around Robin Hood’s
Barn and then I appended some words of Brutus’ Portia, in the second act of
“Julius Caesar.” And what a friend we have in Shakespeare!
Says Portia:
“Think you I am no stronger than my sex,
“Being so fathered and so husbanded?”
You remember that Portia’s parent was Marcus Cato, the famous senator.
After one of those ghastly occasions, I was riding downtown with Ralph
Holmes, my opposite number on the Detroit Times and my beloved friend. I
have never ceased to mourn him.
We rode for several blocks in silence. Then Ralph heaved a great sigh.
“I’ve always heard that love was blind,” he said. “But I never knew it was
deaf.”
***
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 08:35:55 -0400
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Peter Salwen <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: How Good Was She? -- McLauchlin memoir
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Thanks for the excerpt, Kevin. What a delightful way to start the day!
Peter Salwen
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:09:07 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Kevin J. Bochynski" <[log in to unmask]>
Organization: Prodigy Internet
Subject: More McLauchlin Memoir
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Peter,
Your interest inspired me to dig out the complete typescript and take
another look at it. I received these excerpts from a friend, the late John
"Jack" McCabe, who was a well-known theater biographer [Cagney, Cohan,
Chaplin, and Laurel & Hardy (Jack was the founder of "The Sons of the
Desert," the L&H fan club).]
We saw Jack many times during our visits to Mackinac Island, and naturally,
Mark Twain's lecture at Grand Hotel and the Gabrilowitsches' summer cottage
were topics of conversation. Ossip and Clara gave a benefit performance at
Grand Hotel. We do not know if the local paper was kind to Clara's vocal
talents, but we suspect so.
Ossip and Clara often picnicked near British Landing, where Jack had long
resided. He gave us some helpful suggestions about an anecdote in _My
Husband Gabrilowitsch_. Clara tells how Ossip helped extinguish a fire and
rescued guests and furniture at the Island House Hotel (two doors down from
their cottage.) So far, no record of a fire has been found. The hotel is
still in operation, one of the oldest on the island. The Gabrilowitsches'
summer home, "The Anne Cottage," is still there as well. It is not a
tar-paper
shack. "Cottage" is what they call expensive homes on Mackinac Island.
Another notable but more recent past-resident of the cottage is George
Steinbrenner.
I didn't quite know what to do with the typescript (until now). A few years
ago, I created a keepsake edition of the memoir pertaining to O.G. for Jack
and some friends. This morning, I adapted the text to a PDF file and have
posted it on the TwainWeb for anyone who is interested. I used the letter
Jack sent with the typescript as a foreword. It includes an O.G. story that
McLauchlin thought too risqué to put in his memoir. A 1970 article about
Orchestra Hall by McLauchlin, as well as additional stories about O.G. and
his sense of humor follow Jack's letter.
We recently established an easier to remember URL for the TwainWeb:
www.twainweb.net
Scroll down and click on "Files of Interest to Twainians." The McLauchlin
memoir will be at the top of the page. Acrobat Reader (which is on most
computers or
available for free) is required to view the file.
Kevin B.
=========================================================================
Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:02:33 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: How good was she?
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when I went to the exhibit at the Mark Twain
house last year, there were a some ads and papers
saying that she was pretty good.
I have seen other ads and articles about her singing
and it seemed that many people liked her.
Jules
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 10:27:45 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: "big washing and a small hang-out" - where did Paine get it?
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In _Mark Twain's Letters, Vol. 1_ (Harper & Bros., 1917), p. 113,
edited by Albert Bigelow Paine, he gives a string of quotes from
Twain's Letter #13 to the _Sacramento Daily Union_. The letter
was published June 21, 1866 and has an extensive description of
Charles Coffin Harris. Paine quotes two phrases from Letter #13
used to describe Harris:
"a big washing and a small hang-out" and
"a damn fool in general"
What source did Paine use for these phrases. I do not find them
in the original microfilm for the _Daily Union_ nor in any of
the following which reprint the _Union_ correspondence from Twain:
_Mark Twain and Hawaii_ by Walter Francis Frear
_Letters from the Sandwich Islands_, edited by G. Ezra Dane
_Mark Twain's Letters from Hawaii_, edited by A. Grove Day
Was Paine quoting from the original manuscript of the letters which
have never been published?
Barb
=========================================================================
Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2006 19:40:34 +0200
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: camy <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Is Twain serious?
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Dear Group:
I just completed "Life on the Mississippi". Twain stated that he had never
really seen a slave mistreated in Hannibal. Was he serious? Was he naive?
Am I just being cynical?
Camy
=========================================================================
Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2006 23:41:27 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Gordon Snedecor <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: "big washing and a small hang-out" - where did Paine get
it?
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Barb,
Per notes in N&J1, one of the original notebooks is lost which covers
perhaps the time MT was on Maui. He used two notebooks simultaneously
during his stay as well as the one which is missing.
Who knows, it might have been in Brown's scribbling or maybe a letter to his
mother, burned with the contents of four trunks of correspondence. Oh to be
a time traveler with a scanner, a pc and guile enough to get access! Then
again, why not aim for Byron's memoirs in a sort of pre-fire sale!
Gordon Snedecor in Portland, Oregon
=========================================================================
Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2006 23:21:05 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Gordon Snedecor <[log in to unmask]>
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One could say that as Mark Twain, a nom de plume of SLC born in Nevada of
the early 1860's, is telling the truth with stretchers (as a writing and
speaking persona). Your best source is Terrell Dempsey's "Searching for
Jim, Slavery in Sam Clemens's World," Columbia: Univ. Missouri P, 2003. The
link following is the Twain Web book review.
http://www.twainweb.net/reviews/dempsey.html
Dempsey researched the laws, the newspapers, and trials of ante-bellmen
Hannibal. Read and learn. I have not read Life on the Miss. other than the
initial chapters of MT as apprentice pilot. One needs to keep in mind what
seems to be the normal and usual use of corporal punishment ("The Adventures
of Tom Sawyer" of Tom by Aunt P and the School Master, and Huck's
"education" in "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" or even the story of the bad
boy known originally as "Christmas Fireside"). Attitudes, use, and severity
of physical violence are cultural as well as individual expressions.
And yes, democracies, authors, snakes, folks, (me too) have, do, and will
always make mistakes.
Gordon Snedecor in Portland, Oregon.
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 10:48:25 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Sharon McCoy <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Is Twain serious?
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Dear Camy,
I've loaned someone my copy of _Life on the Mississippi_, so I can't check
the context or tone of the statement you mention, but Twain wrote many other
things that indicate you should take the statement with a grain of salt, a
dash of irony, and understanding that this was a question he struggled with
his whole life. How could people he knew as "moral," people he loved and/or
respected, treat other human beings as they did? And if he admitted their
brutality, how could he still love them (and himself) or respect them?
It's a question we all face, I think. We've all known and loved people who
we find have morally reprehensible beliefs. How we cope with the
contradiction is something that makes Twain's writings continually relevant.
Remember that, for Twain (as for some of us even to today), this includes
his mother and father.
In terms of what Twain himself said about slavery in Hannibal, the evidence
is contradictory and gives evidence of his struggles with the question:
In "From Bombay to Missouri," in _Mark Twain and the Damned Human Race_, for
example, he writes about seeing a servant in Bombay struck:
"The native took it with meekness, saying nothing, and not showing in his
face or manner any resentment. It carried me back to my boyhood, and
flashed upon me the forgotten fact that this was the *usual* way of
explaining one's desires to a slave. I was able to remember that the method
seemed right and natural to me in those days, I being born to it and unaware
that elsewhere there were other methods; but I was also able to remember
that those unresented cuffings made me sorry for the victim and ashamed for
the punisher. . . ." (244)
You'll note that even here, Twain seems to assume that the appearance of
meekness means that the beatings were actually "unresented." Elsewhere, he
offers different views on this, but I think what he's trying to convey is
that they didn't really know another way, or believe another way was
possible.
He continues:
"My father had passed his life among the slaves from his cradle up, and his
cuffings proceeded from the custom of the time, not from his nature. When I
was ten years old I saw a man fling a lump of iron ore at a slave-man in
anger, for merely doing something awkwardly--as if that were a crime. It
bounded from the man's skull, and the man fell and never spoke again. He
was dead in an hour. I knew the man had a right to kill his slave it he
wanted to, and yet it seemed a pitiful thing and somehow wrong, though why
wrong I was not deep enough to explain if I had been asked to do it. Nobody
in the village approved of that murder, but of course no one said much about
it." (245).
Could he be serious when he wrote the lines in _Life on the Mississippi_
about never seeing a slave "mistreated"? At time, possibly. Would he have
been serious about it all his life? I think not.
In terms of what slavery was like in Hannibal, I would strongly second
Gordon's recommendation to read Terrell's book. My own research took me
into many of the same primary sources he used, and his book is well-written
and accurate. Its impact on our understanding of Twain's work has only
begun.
Hope this helps a little.
Best,
Sharon McCoy
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 22:52:51 +0300
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Crawford Steve <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Is Twain serious?
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Hi Camy,
I'm not sure I understand your questions. Do you mean to refer in
whole to the institution of slavery as a form of mistreatment, or do
you refer specifically to Twain's subjective assessment in L on the
Miss that he never saw a slave in Hannibal treated badly? We tend to
look back in time through the social and contextual lenses of our own
individual present day values and beliefs. In Twain's role as a
social cynosure I think over his lifetime he became quite outspoken
against the institution of slavery as well as, for example, the
imperialism of the emerging world power that was the USA in the late
19th century. He seemed to truly regret what happened to slaves in
America, the Filipinos after the Spanish-American War, as well as the
Congolese under Belgian colonial rule. Obviously a lot of people
during these years could not have cared less about these issues and
their affected peoples. It must have taken some courage to be Twain.
Steve Crawford
Jyväskylä, Finland
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:03:39 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Wesley Britton <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Is Twain serious?
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I don't have the references in front of me, but the young Sam Clemens was
certainly aware of problems with slavery. I forget the boy's name, but Sam
wrote he complained to his mother about a young slave singing and Clemens'
mother told him he shouldn't criticize--that the boy would never see his own
mother again and the singing was his way of expressing his pain. In his
Autobiography, Twain mentioned slaves he saw by the river in chains and the
impression this made on him.
I think the LOM reference was specifically saying Hannibal slaves weren't
mistreated in the sense of beatings, lynchings, or obvious physical
mistreatment. Throughout the South, slaves lived very different lives
depending on location--hence the phrase "sold down the river" which everyone
knew would be punishment for slaves as plantation existence was far harsher
than more domestic duties upriver. Both these situations are important in HF
and Puddn'head Wilson as well as Uncle Tom's Cabin.
If memory serves, I think Sam wrote somewhere that Hannibal citizens frowned
on poor treatment of slaves. I don't recall if this connection was ever
made, but Twain did write that pastors justified slavery in the pulpit by
pointing to Biblical passages. Likely, these would be from Paul's letters
which say much about proper behavior of both masters and slaves--not
denouncing the institution in the slightest, but rather codes of conduct on
both sides. In short, my suspicion is that Hannibal citizens heard sermons
saying slavery was morally o.k.--but to be kind and just in their treatment.
Wes Britton
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 21:55:14 +0000
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: "Martin D. Zehr" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Is Twain serious?
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Wesley, The slave you were thinking of is Sandy, the rent-a-slave Clemens
refers to in his Autobiography, p.102. Clemens also recalls an incident in
which a slave is killed when its owner, incensed by some minor "infraction,"
strikes him in the head with a chunk of iron. As I recall, the owner was
frowned on for this action, not because of his obvious inhumanity, but
because the act showed a cavalier attitude toward valuable property, as if
he had sabotaged a critical piece of farm equipment. These incidents are
recalled, of course, almost twenty years following the writing of Life on
the Mississippi, when Twain's memory, as he himself indicated, might have
had a predisposition to produce events that never happened.
Martin Zehr
Kansas City, Missouri
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:25:08 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Ron Owens <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Is Twain Serious?
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Doesn't Twain's story about Quarry Farm's Aunty Cord ("A True
Story...") express how beyond naivete Twain was--to ask a woman who
lost to slavery her husband and all seven children why she had not had
any trouble in 60 years? Not only was this his entrance to literary
acceptance via the Atlantic Monthly, but maybe also his entrance into
the real world of black people. But we shouldn't be too harsh on him
should we, considering how Dempsey in "Searching for Jim" reveals how
it wasn't just Hannibal that whitewashed more than fences. Most of the
entire America failed to see the bleakness of slavery, and many still
do. I cringe at the number of relatives and acquaintances I have who
still speak so naively that it rings of blatant racism. More
importantly, how do scholars characterize Twain, overall, today; did he
not more than make up for his own shortsightedness by such courageous
gestures (I'm hearing the words of the master, Vic Doyno) that included
helping blacks through college, not to mention the Huck Finn monument
against racism?
Ron Owens
(in MT's "a foretaste of heaven" Elmira)
[although today if feels like elsewhere]
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 18:41:23 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: George Robinson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Did Twain read Sterne?
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My wife and I recently saw Michael Winterbottom's very imaginative film
"Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story," which promptly sent us back to
the original novel. After reading about 50 or 75 pages, she turned to me
and said, "He anticipates so much of Twain. Twain must have read Sterne
at some point."
That sent me scurrying to the bookcase in our bedroom, which is all
Twain and Twain bios, reference books and criticism. And to my complete
shock, the only reference I could find was a letter from WDH to Clemens
expressing his mixed feelings about both Tristram and "A Sentimental
Journey." Obviously, my library is need of expansion.
Did Twain ever mention Sterne? If so, where, when and what did he say?
I know someone on the forum will know.
George Robinson