Hi,
Any chance anyone has come across the original sources for these Mark
Twain quotes:
"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother
me, it is the parts that I do understand."
"[The Bible is] a mass of fables and traditions, mere mythology."
"Sacred cows make the best hamburger."
"If there is a God, he is a malign thug."
A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned
out for what he knows.
Any leads would be very appreciated.
Thanks,
Sara Bader
========================================================================Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2006 19:40:27 +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: Shame on me!!
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Dear Group:
Oh, how could I have forgotten that Twain's daughter drowned in the bathtub
on Christmas eve? I probably forgot it because I was usually listening,
(not reading), the biographies when I was going off to sleep. Andy Hoffman
will slap my wrists and deservedly so!
Camy
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 06:41:04 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Hoffman <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Shame on me!!
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My parole officer would frown on the use of violence, so I don't dare. In
any case, I have written as much as I have because I tend to forget. I
myself have forgotten most everything in my books. At least now I know where
to look it up . . .
Andy Hoffman
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 12:12:10 -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: Shame on me!!
Twain's distaste for Christmas predates Jean's death in1909, and had nothing
to do with the fact that she drowned on Christmas Eve morning that year.
In a letter Jean wrote to a friend on Dec 21, 1909, she begs the friend to
come to Stormfield for Christmas, mentions that her father was "absolutely
disinterested in Christmas" and says she had to be careful about what she
said to him or he'd tell her "to go to the devil."
He certainly celebrated Christmas with his family when the girls were small,
but how early he developed a distaste for the holiday I do not know for
certain. I seem to recall it may date from Susy's death.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 12:35:33 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: MT and Christmas
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The recorded information about the Christmas holidays after Susy's death,
particularly 1896 and 97, shows that those were indeed dismal and very sad
days for Mark and Livy.
Of course this is a common feeling among the bereaved. For some, the first
holiday is the hardest; for others, all the rest of them are hard too. Some
of this I have discussed in some of my own work. And there is a wealth of
clinical data about this.
BTW: if you read Joe Twichell's holiday remembrances, as recorded in his
journal, it appears that during the major period in Hartford, those were
jolly days surrounding Christmas and the New Year. Twain often sang and
played piano, for instance.
I believe there did arise some horror of the holidays, but I would tend to
associate it with the so-called "dark days" after August 1896.
Dr. Harold K. Bush, Jr.
Saint Louis University
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 13:46:28 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Progress in the annotated chronology
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Yes, it's a huge undertaking. Many have pointed me to Rasmussen's
chronology
in the front of "Mark Twain A-Z," but this isn't exactly what I'm doing.
An annotated chronology attempts to point out significance or background or
implications of events, or, at least to add some interest to what might
otherwise be a dry, dusty, and pretty useless tome. As a published novelist
and
short story writer, I believe I understand at least some of the drama in
many
events in MT's life.
Here's my question: I'd like to include pictures of Sam at various ages,
plus a few historical photos as well. I see many of these pictures online
and
in books. Are permissions required to use photographs of Sam Clemens? I
know
that many of his works are in the public domain (although probably not all,
since some were published decades after his death). But, what about his
image?
Modern day images cannot be used without permission, but since Sam died in
1910, would it be okay to do so? Someone with publishing credits and/or
knowledge might like to answer this.
And as for the work in progress, "Mark Twain, Day-By-Day," I'm making slow
but sure progress. For those of you who missed my earlier note, I'm
attempting
to document each day of Sam's life that is available through historical
sources--what he was doing, his writings, speeches, travels and the events
of his
life. I try to limit a particular day to no more than a paragraph or a
page;
I'm using snippets of his humor and writing wherever possible, and explain
who the people in his life were. Yes, I've run into several discrepancies
among the sources, and try to mention when they don't agree (for example,
the
different date that Paine gave to Sam's pilot's license over later
sources.) Oh,
yes, one more thing I'm adding--the day of the week for each day used. This
requires having a calendar site open and the year chosen, then transferring
the day of week to my manuscript. I will also include major historical
events
throughout Sam's life, as in the start and end of the Civil War, hardly
civil.
I'm at 150 pages of MS. and about 75k words. After some cursory filling in
of major events, I began at birth, Sam's that is, not my own, and slowly
worked by way to 1868. I've learned more about Sam this way than in reading
all
the books I have. I have UofCal's letter volumes, Fatout's books, Early
Tales &
Sketches volumes, and many more. So far I've used perhaps 25 sources. I'm
also using historical interpretations like Hoffman's, Powers', Sanborn's,
etc.
I pretty much read several sources and interpretations on a given year or
month, and beat out all the references I'm able. I wasn't familiar with
Dixon
Wecter's work until I began this project, but found him quite helpful on
the
earlier periods of Sam's life.
I have an old, dusty, weathered degree in history, and a somewhat newer one
in education/writing which has propped me up in times of discouragement at
the sheer gargantuan nature of the undertaking.
I hope to find a publisher for the finished work (can I say when it should
be finished? Perhaps by next summer,) but if not, I'm fixed enough to
self-publish and start with 500 copies. I've done one book of short stories
that way
and am familiar with the process and steps involved, though I'd rather have
a
publisher if possible. Getting an agent without being a world-class expert
on something is pretty tough these days.
Any help or suggestions anyone might make would be appreciated.
David H Fears
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 11:14:51 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: john evans <[log in to unmask]>
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I recently had this request:
> John,
> I'd like to get my hands on a story Mark Twain wrote but I don't
> remember the title of it. It was really different from anything
> else he'd ever written.
>
> There were two boys who were given the power to make people out of
> mud. They made a whole village and then did terrible things to
> their creations--floods, earthquakes, etc.--and then laughed at them.
>
> I think Twain was inspired to write this after one of his children
> died of a protracted illness. Do you remember the title of the
> story?'
This doesn't ring a bell with me. Any help?
Thanks,
John Evans
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 11:27:04 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Hilton Obenzinger <[log in to unmask]>
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The Mysterious Stranger manuscripts -- also excerpts from the Infancy
Gospel of Thomas quoted in Innocents Abroad. It was only one boy --
who happened to be Jesus in the apocryphal gospel.
Hilton Obenzinger
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 12:18:33 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Gregg Camfield <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Shame on me!!
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Don't overplay this; Jean died when Sam was near his own death after
all. He never had another Xmas after Jean's death.
G
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 15:53:09 -0400
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Peter Salwen <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: "Twain's daughter drowned in the bathtub"
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That's true, but it happened in 1909, a few months before Twain's own death,
so the fact doesn't really have a lot of explanatory power re earlier
Christmases.
My understanding has always been simply that Susie's death cast a pall --
probably to a pathological degree -- over the holidays the family had
formerly celebrated so joyously.
Peter Salwen
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 14:16:19 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: James Edstrom <[log in to unmask]>
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I think this was an episode out of "The Mysterious Stranger" and not a
separate short story.--Jim Edstrom
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 14:14:31 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: James Edstrom <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Progress in the annotated chronology
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There's a similar work originally issued in print but now available
online for Abraham Lincoln. "The Lincoln Log" (available at
http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/lincoln/index.php) provides a detailed
chronology of Lincoln's life that is endlessly fascinating and useful
for students of his life. It is based upon "Lincoln day by day : a
chronology, 1809-1865", compiled by Earl Schenck Miers and William
Baringer and published in 1960 by the United States Lincoln
Sesquicentennial Commission. You may find this provides you with some
useful ideas for your own work.
Jim Edstrom
Harper College
Palatine, Illinois
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 14:26:14 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Tracy Wuster <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Twain Readings
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Hello List,
I am in the process of reading for my Ph.D. comps in American Studies at the
University of Texas. One of my four lists is a literature list focused on
American Realism. I have decided to include a substantial subsection of
this list on Mark Twain.
I was wondering what people would suggest as the most important 10-15 books
on Mark Twain to read as part of a background on Twain. While I have read
much on Twain in the past, I am trying to get a scholarly consensus on the
most important/influential books on Twain.
Feel free to respond on or off list. Thanks,
Tracy Wuster
American Studies, UT Austin
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 14:28:54 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: John Davis <[log in to unmask]>
Organization: Chowan University
Subject: People out of Mud
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It sounds like an episode from the version of _The Mysterious Stranger
Manuscripts_
published as _The Mysterious Stranger_ in 1916 but now generally called _The
Chronicle of Young Satan_, in which Philip Traum (the Stranger) gives
Theodor and
Nikiolaus the power to create creatures (birds, small people) from mud and
then to
destroy the people when they begin behaving like full-scale human beings.
John H. Davis, Ph.D.
English Division
Chowan University
Murfreesboro, NC
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 19:54:49 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Wesley Britton <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: People out of Mud
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If memory serves, this scene was dramatized in the claymation feature, The
Adventures of Mark Twain. Rather appropriate.
Wes Britton
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 20:41:25 -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: BOOK REVIEW: Berkove, _The Sagebrush Anthology_
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The following book review was written for the Mark Twain Forum by Joseph L.
Coulombe.
~~~~~
BOOK REVIEW
_The Sagebrush Anthology: Literature from the Silver Age of the Old West_.
Lawrence I. Berkove, ed. University of Missouri Press, 2006. Softcover. Pp.
xi + 392. $19.95. ISBN 978-0-8262-1651-9.
Many books reviewed on the Forum are available at discounted prices from
the TwainWeb Bookstore, and purchases from this site generate commissions
that benefit the Mark Twain Project. Please visit <http://www.twainweb.net>.
Reviewed for the Mark Twain Forum by:
Joseph L. Coulombe
Rowan University
Copyright (c) 2006 Mark Twain Forum. This review may not be published or
redistributed in any medium without permission.
Lawrence Berkove's new collection _The Sagebrush Anthology: Literature from
the Silver Age of the Old West_ is a welcome addition to the study of
writers active in the Far West from the 1860s through the early twentieth
century. Berkove is an established authority in the area. He has authored
and edited books on Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, and Dan De Quille, among
others, and he brings his detailed knowledge of western writers and history
to bear in this collection. _The Sagebrush Anthology_ provides a convenient
source and a useful context for evaluating the variety and skill of
individual authors within the Sagebrush School.
The "Sagebrush" label itself, according to Berkove, was applied to these
writers in 1893 by Ella Sterling Cummins. They were a transient group by
and large. Most were itinerant journalists and adapted to the vicissitudes
of the boom-and-bust mining region. Berkove explains that they were "a
loose association of writers with a common base in nineteenth-century
Nevada" (p. 2). For this collection, in addition to Twain, Berkove focuses
most closely on Dan De Quille (the pen name of William Wright), Samuel Post
Davis, Joseph T. Goodman, and Rollin Daggett. Their proximity to Twain
links them together, and their contributions to this volume allow Twain
aficionados to better appreciate his evolution and the influences upon him,
as well as his influence upon other writers, within a particularly regional
style of writing.
Berkove organizes the book into six categories--"Humor and Hoaxes," "Short
Fiction," "Memoirs," "Nonfiction," "Letters," and "Poetry"--and the
individual entries are arranged chronologically within each category.
Berkove provides a two-page introduction to each section as well as a brief
note before most (but not all) entries giving relevant information about
the author, the sketch, and sometimes its publication history. Some of the
sketches and letters are published here for the first time, and some are
first collected here, having appeared previously in newspapers or journals
only. For the previously unpublished and anonymous items, Berkove provides
information on their locations and how he identified authorship. When an
author's identity cannot be proven with complete accuracy, Berkove provides
the name of the most likely writer followed by a question mark.
The first section, "Humor and Hoaxes," begins with three Twain sketches.
"Washoe.--'Information Wanted'" (1864) is an underappreciated early sketch
that shows the confluence of Twain's emerging comic self-deprecation and a
regional humor, and he snarkily criticizes exaggerated opinions about
opportunities in the West. Following Twain's infamous hoax "Petrified Man,"
(1862) De Quille's "A Silver Man" (1865) comes off as somewhat technical
(and tedious). De Quille's "Frightful Catastrophe" (1866) also relies more
on an easy gimmick for its "punch line" than a creative twist. De Quille
proves himself, however, with the outrageous "Solar Armor," (1874) which,
according to Berkove, fooled the editors of the London _Daily Telegraph_.
Likewise, the anonymous recounting of "Sam Davis's Earthquake Hoax"
(Davis's original version has not been found) is wonderful. Davis exhibits
a cool nonchalance by requesting payment for his services in perpetuating a
false story at the end of his report.
A recurring theme among western humorists was their ability to talk tough
while avoiding the violent ramifications of their words, a motif used in D.
Jones's "Whipping an Editor" (1872), Arthur McEwen's "Why the Gold Gulch
News Suspended" (1884), and Joseph Goodman's "The _Trumpet_ Comes to
Pickeye!" These pieces share an affinity with Twain's "Journalism in
Tennessee" (1869), which is not included here. A perhaps irrelevant note:
Arthur McEwen's "One Solution" (1893), a quasi-sentimental piece about a
man who marries two women concurrently--published here without an
explanatory note--would seem to fit better in the section on short fiction;
whereas Alfred Doten's "The Living Hinge" (1867)--included in the section
"Short Fiction"--seems intended as a hoax on readers, particularly
considering the message of the cryptogram (helpfully decoded by Berkove in
a footnote).
Some worthy gems are included in the "Short Fiction" category. De Quille's
"The Eagle Nest" (1891) is a thoughtful and fascinating tale of foolish
risks and heart-pounding fear. Sam Davis shows his skill again with the
surprising "A Christmas Carol" (1870s), which revamps the
"civilization-comes-to-the-frontier" theme, exploding its pervasive
sentimental nostalgia with a comic-realistic ending. James Gally's "Big
Jack Small" (1875), plays with themes familiar to readers of Twain by
offering a wry celebration of working-class western masculinity while also
highlighting the vigor of a vernacular dialect against a more genteel,
formal style of speaking--ala Scotty Briggs and the minister in _Roughing
It_ (1872). Gally departs from Twain, however, by inverting the religious
conversion: whereas Scotty Briggs begins teaching Sunday school, Gally's
minister develops an appreciation not only for the efficacy of cursing but
also for Jack Small's nature-based spirituality. Likewise, Charles Carroll
Goodwin's "Sister Celeste" (1884) examines religious morality within a
western context, but it ends with a nearly hyperbolic sentimentalism, in
spite of the overt sexualizing of a nun early in the tale. Sam Davis's "The
Conversion of Champagne Liz" (published here for the first time) provides
an interesting study of gender at the time, and it avoids the maudlin
despite Liz's religious conversion and death (she's torn apart by coyotes
and, years later, her friends toast her memory by sharing an impromptu
drink with her skull). Davis's "The Loco Weed" (1899) and "The Mystery of
the Savage Sump" (1901) are also worthy efforts. On another side note:
works written by Samuel Post Davis are identified without explanation in
three different ways--Sam P. Davis, Samuel Davis, Sam Davis. Readers who
are not familiar with Davis and his works may find this a bit confusing.
The section "Memoirs" provides a brief literary history of some famous (and
infamous) individuals and relationships. Twain, for the most part, comes
across poorly in the opinions and sketches of those who knew him. Two
entries recollect Twain's initial meeting with Artemus Ward: one written by
Twain himself in 1867, and the other by De Quille in 1888. Both highlight
Twain's genuine but understandable confusion over how to respond to Ward's
intentional comic obfuscation. Arthur McEwan's "Memories of _Enterprise_
Writers" (1893) explains why "[n]ot many people liked Mark Twain," and
while he excuses Twain generally, he rhapsodizes eloquently over Joseph
Goodman and the newspaper he edited. Similarly, Alf Doten's "Early
Journalism in Nevada" (1899) presents Twain in a fairly bad light,
recounting two jokes played on Twain and their effect, summarizing:
"although he liked practical jokes on others, he did not seem to enjoy one
upon himself" (p. 274).
More damning of Twain--albeit entirely by implication--is an unsigned item
Berkove attributes to Joseph Goodman titled "The Tragedy of Conrad Wiegand"
(1908). The item is a spirited defense of Conrad Wiegand, who Twain savaged
in Appendix C of _Roughing It_, calling Wiegand a "weak, half-witted child"
who "deserves to be thrashed" for exposing corrupt officials in print. In
fact, Wiegand was beaten, kicked, and horsewhipped (as Twain himself
documented). Goodman sympathetically details Wiegand's harassment by
enemies and betrayal by friends that eventually led to his suicide and his
wife's starvation. According to Berkove, "the account of Conrad Wiegand's
suicide, probably told by Joe Goodman, and nowhere else told in such
detail, is not flattering to Twain. Although Goodman and Twain were close
friends, this may be Goodman's way of setting his own conscience at
rest--and in Twain's lifetime--for having played a regretted part in the
good man's ordeal" (p. 240).
Rollin Daggett's "My French Friend" (1895) also ends in suicide, and,
although purportedly non-fiction, the tale has a false ring to it (noted by
Berkove), particularly regarding the genuine good cheer of their last
supper. Two additional pieces provide some levity. An anonymous item titled
"Geological Reminiscences" (1895) and "Jim Townsend's Lies" (1908) by James
P. Kennedy recount the humorous anecdotes and wry observations of the
good-natured scoundrels who made a name for themselves in the mining region.
The entries in "Nonfiction" fit nicely with those in "Memoirs," but rather
than focusing on important individuals, they flesh out the social and
cultural context of the region. Fred Hart wrote three of the articles. In
"The First Fourth in White Pine" (1878) he provides a lively retelling of
his efforts to organize a Fourth of July celebration in a remote mining
camp, replete with a home-made flag pieced together from varied cast-offs
and a one-man dance-band given to drink. Hart's additional two pieces
can--literally--be termed "gallows humor." In "Under the Gallows" (1878)
he unwittingly unrolls his bedding on a dark night under a gallows, an
experience that prompts his reflections on the inevitable shift of
organized vigilantism from a well-intended effort to curb violence to a
debased tool of a powerful minority. Hart's "Hoist by His Own Petard"
(1878) focuses on a sadistic vigilante hung on a machine of his own design.
In an unsigned editorial Berkove attributes to Joseph Goodman titled
"Cranks and Their Uses" (1884), Goodman provides an interesting meditation
on progressive cultural movements summarized by his statement: "Tolerate
the cranks" (p. 338). His short editorial begins and ends with his somewhat
inconsistent response to a woman wearing pants in public, who "excited our
laughter by her comical but undoubtedly comfortable and healthful costume"
(p. 337). Likewise, a letter from Granville Winchester Pease to Dan De
Quille which Berkove titled "A Paiute Reservation" (1892) presents a
tolerant nineteenth-century opinion of the Pah Ute Indians that,
nonetheless, appears patronizing today. Pease was a clerk for the Walker
River Indian reservation and was reasonably well-qualified to know his
topic for a white man. But his utter confidence in defining somebody else's
cultural customs seems misplaced. His paradoxical position is highlighted
by his discussion of the Paiute holy man, Wovoka, in which he offers the
racial qualifier: "He is quite intelligent for an Indian" (p. 344). In
addition, Pease's positive estimation of the Indian schools--despite "the
home influence" that the children received from their families--only
recalls the catastrophic effort to strip Native Americans of their language
and culture. Sarah Winnemucca (the only female author included in _The
Sagebrush Anthology_) provides a more dependable--if not entirely
uncomplicated--treatment of her people and culture. Ultimately, her article
"The Pah-Utes" (1882) is more of a damning indictment of "white"
civilization than an explanation of her own.
The section "Letters" contains only five letters, and Berkove might have
explained more fully his rational for choosing these particular letters. In
a brief introduction, he states that the letters "tell us a good deal about
Nevada and the Sagebrush mentality" (p. 349). However, considering the
number of letters that exists from this time period, a wider selection
would have better fleshed out whatever this mentality might be. In the five
letters readers witness a truncated range of sometimes conflicting
attitudes. The first letter from Twain was written to his mother and sister
in 1863 and demonstrates his youthful confidence. The next two letters are
from Rollin Daggett to Charles Carroll Goodwin. Both were written in 1894,
and each begins with praise for Goodwin's book _The Wedge of Gold_. In the
first, Daggett goes on to explain his appreciation for realistic fiction
about "vigorous and rational human action" (p. 353). Both letters
demonstrate a world-weary cynicism, and Daggett laments the passing of an
age: "It's a burning shame to saddle one with the infirmities of years,
while our hearts are kicking up their heels in perpetual boyhood. Life is a
blasted fraud" (p. 355). The second letter by Twain, written in 1904 in
response to Robert L. Fulton's request for a western reunion, showcases a
nostalgic warmth at odds with Daggett's pessimism. The final letter
consists of Charles Goodwin blazing away at G. H. Babcock (1907) and is a
strange and fascinating epistle, but one in need of editorial explanation
regarding the context. In the section introduction, Berkove describes the
letter as "full of Sagebrush spirit" (p. 349) but does not further identify
G. H. Babcock nor explain his provocative actions that prompted Goodwin's
letter.
The section on "Poetry" includes poems by Rollin Daggett, Joseph Goodman,
and Sam Davis. Most are undated and not previously published. Daggett's
poems are elegaic and beautiful. His "My New Year's Guests" (1881) is a
paean to the forty-niners and the youthful vigor and enthusiasm they
symbolize. Goodman's poetry, from the archives of the Bancroft Library at
the University of California at Berkeley, is stark and candid. He bemoans
the wasted lives of overworked women, recoils from the saccharine bromides
of a preacher's sermon, and compares his aging body to Virginia City--both
of which he prefers to remember in their youthful glory. Davis's
contributions are witty and racy. He meditates happily upon a kiss (despite
the potential germs). He recalls exchanging political favors for sexual
favors (which were only partially granted). And he describes how, no matter
where he lives and travels, he will return to Nevada--even after
death--because of "the lure of the sagebrush." The unpublished manuscripts
of Sam Davis's poems are from the private collection of the family of
Sylvia Crowell Stoddard.
_The Sagebrush Anthology_ is a fascinating picture of a time and a place
that has been, simultaneously but incongruously, memorialized via fiction
and film, yet neglected for its ability to resist easy generalizations.
Berkove has provided us with previously unavailable texts and an invaluable
tool to continue our understanding of the writers who were shaped by the
region and who, in turn, helped define the region for a nation.
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 16:59:21 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Michael MacBride <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain Readings
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Alan Gribben's *Mark Twain's Library: A Reconstruction *is an amazing work
that would best answer this... from my readings of it I would suggest that
the Bible would be by far the most influencial. *Don Quixote *is
anotherwhich, according to Gribben, he called one of his "beau ideals
of fine
writing", and once loaned to Susan Crane (his sister in-law) saying "I hold
her strictly responsible for it. And she might as well abuse Livy as abuse
that book", and wrote that Cervantes had the "best of opportunities" for
writing a masterpiece—"solitary imprisonment, by compulsion".
Also, despite his dislike for Austen, Poe, and Cooper... he seemed to have a
good supply of all of their works. It would be an interesting thesis to
write about why Twain surrounded himself with works by authors he despised
(and perhaps how the differences he saw between himself and them shaped who
he ended up being).
According to Gribben he also wrote about Stevenson's *Treasure Island* and *The
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*, "God, so atrocious in the Old
Testament, so attractive in the New--the Jekyll & Hyde of sacred
fiction/romance. Stevenson plagiarized it?"
It will be interesting to see what other's say.
Michael
========================================================================Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 22:36:27 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain Readings
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In a message dated 9/5/2006 7:00:31 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
It would be an interesting thesis to
write about why Twain surrounded himself with works by authors he despised
(and perhaps how the differences he saw between himself and them shaped who
he ended up being).
As a writer, I also keep many novels in the sub-genre in which I write,
which seem sub-par to the best and even to my own. I think it natural that
Sam
would have such books, and also that he'd study them, criticize them and
use
them for at least an example of what not to do.
David H Fears
========================================================================Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 10:07:42 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: John Bird <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Public Domain?
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Someone asked me whether "The Stolen White Elephant" is in the public
domain. My understanding is that it is, as well as most of Twain's other
published works. Am I correct? Thanks for the help...
John Bird
========================================================================Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 07:31:21 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Laura Skandera Trombley <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Jean's Death
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From The Fresno Morning Republican. Saturday, December 25, 1909
"Jean Clemens died not directly from drowning, as was first supposed,
but more probably of strangulation due to an attack of epilepsy, or from
heart failure. The body was found in the bath tub with the head only
partly submerged and medical examination tonight showed that the lungs
contained little water."
In a 1989 American Neurological Association article, researchers
reported that sudden unexpected death without obvious cause accounts
for a substantial portion of reported deaths among epileptics; however,
this phenomenon is still not widely recognized nor appreciated. In a
more recent article entitled, Sudden Death in Epilepsy, published
in the winter 1997 issue of The Medical Journal of Allina, epileptic
patients who had never been able to achieve complete seizure control,
who had suffered from epilepsy for years possibly from the result of a
head injury and who were between 20 and 40 years of age and in excellent
health except for epilepsy were viewed as high risk for sudden death.
Jean falls within these parameters.
Laura Trombley
========================================================================Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 11:48:20 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "James S. Leonard" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Public Domain?
In-Reply-To: <004b01c6d1bd$d2da8c00$a1c79904@D6JLM341>
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Since "The Stolen White Elephant" was first published in 1882, it surely is
in the public domain--as are all of Twain's works published before 1923.
Jim Leonard
========================================================================Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 11:22:16 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Alan Gribben <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain Readings
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Dear Michael,
Interestingly, it wasn't just "major" writers whom Twain sometimes
criticized; he also developed a voracious appetite for truly minor authors.
I sketched out some of his proclivities in "'I Kind of Love Small Game':
Mark Twain's Library of Literary Hogwash," AMERICAN LITERARY REALISM 9
(Winter 1976): 64-76. Twain's friends even starting sending him examples
of badly written books, knowing his fondness for this stuff and soliciting
his explosions of indignation.
Regards,
Alan
Alan Gribben
Auburn University Montgomery
========================================================================Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 10:36:03 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Laura Cerruti <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Public Domain?
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Anything published before 1923 is likely to be in the public domain.
However, any writings either published or known after 1923 are likely
protected under copyright. For a complete summary, see
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/MTP/access.html.
Laura Cerruti
Acquisitions Editor
University of California Press
========================================================================Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:44:42 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Public Domain?
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what about pictures of Twain? Are these also in the public domain?
thanks,
David H Fears
========================================================================Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:01:29 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Alex Effgen <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Public Domain?
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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While on the topic of copyright, if I may ask, what makes Twain's
works/notebooks/letters/misc published AFTER 1923 subject to
copyright? While I have a general sense of the answer I am still
confused how they have a copyright beyond the standard 70 years after
the author's death.
As for his works after 1923, what remains of their copyright? Is it
specific to each document? I always had a sense that copyright began
with the creation of a work not its date of publication.
Alex Effgen
Boston University
========================================================================Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 10:35:56 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Ballard, Terry Prof." <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Public Domain?
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Our understanding of copyright law is that anything published in America before 1924 is automatically in the public domain, so the only Twain material that's still under copyright would be works like "Letters from the Earth," published long after his death. Stolen White Elephant has, in fact been added to the web by Project Gutenberg at:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3181
Terry Ballard
Quinnipiac University
========================================================================Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:47:32 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Kathleen Mitchell <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Public Domain?
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My question seems rather simple compared to all the questions I've read but
it really is driving me crazy!
MT wrote about the emotions involved with losing a home, something to the
effect that once you lose your home, wherever you go after that, whenever
you
think of something, it's always in that place.
Can anyone help me?
Kathleen Mitchell
========================================================================Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 13:48:25 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Laura Cerruti <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Public Domain?
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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I'm afraid that there is no copyright standard, and only certain
works are protected under the Life + 70 rule. Having said that, a
good summary of what is and is not in the public domain can be found
on this website:
http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm
Many images of Mark Twain were published during his lifetime and are,
therefore, not protected under copyright. However, any object, such
an image or manuscript facsimile, requires another level of credit.
These are often owned by individuals and institutions, and these
individuals and institutions will need to grant permission for an
object in their collection to appear in any sort of publication.
Here is another website with useful resources regarding copyright and
permissions:
http://www.aaupnet.org/aboutup/issues/copyright/index.html
Laura Cerruti
Acquisitions Editor
University of California Press
========================================================================Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 16:35:59 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Emotions involved with losing a home
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In reply to Kathleen Mitchell who inquired about this passage --
it is most likely the passage from Twain's autobiography relating
to the death of his daughter Susy which begins "It is one of the
mysteries of our nature that a man, all unprepared, can receive a
thunder-stroke like that and live." See chapter 66 of _The
Autobiography of Mark Twain_ edited by Charles Neider.
Barb
========================================================================Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 18:24:03 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Kathleen Mitchell <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Emotions involved with losing a home
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In reply to Barb who suggested that I might find Twain's reference to
losing
a home and the long-lasting effects in The Autobiography of Mark Twain,
edited by Charles Neider---Thank you so much!
I have been involved for close to 8 years in the Kelo v New London case
involving the misuse of eminent domain.
The case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court.
In attempting to explain the importance of home to our beloved city
council,
et al, I frequently used the Twain quote.
I don't know how I managed to lose the source but I've been obsessed with
finding it ever since.
I have just ordered the book from Amazon and am hoping I will find it.
Kathleen Mitchell
========================================================================Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 09:02:15 -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: Emotions involved with losing a home (and searching for a
home)
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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There is a wonderful chapter in Everett Emerson's literary biography of
Twain about losing the Hartford home.--and about the image of burning homes
in later fictions. Do not have the book handy to check for page numbers.
I also have some comments about Twain's yearning in life to find a home
(along with certain of his characters, like Huck) in my forthcoming work
--esp. At the end of it.
Your comments also remind me of George Harris in the Quaker village in
UTC--see for example p. 122 in the Norton edition: "This indeed was a
home--home,--a word that George had never yet known. . . .
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University
========================================================================Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 21:57:38 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Public Domain?
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Hail, all!
I seem to recall a ruckus a few years back when Carson City, Nev.,
decided to put Sam's mug on its tourism brochures, and some big agency that
represents the use of images of those passed but famous made a big stink
about it.
Isn't modern life swell?
Kathy O'Connell
========================================================================Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 10:45:39 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Clemens and Music?
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Hello,
I'm currently working on a paper and am stuck and need
your expertise, pretty please :)
I think I remember that Sam loved to play and sing the "negro
spirtuals"
Is this correct or was it called something else?
Did he like to sing or play other types of music?
Did he use this music in his works? "Huck Finn"?
Or other works?
I've had a migraine for the past 4 days, so my brain is not
up to "speed" for remembering these things.
Thank you all so very much for any help you can give me.
Jules
========================================================================Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 06:01:35 +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: No expert, but
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Dear Group:
I am attempting to respond to the question concerning Twain and negro
spirituals. From my limited reading, I recollect that Sam played the
piano and guitar and that he enjoyed singing spirituals in a clear (I
think), tenor voice. He seems to have sung them quite well.
I hope that helps some.
Camy
========================================================================Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 09:39:36 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Clemens and Music?
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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As a source for this paper, I would recommend _Mark Twain and Music_
issued on a CD which was recorded live at a luncheon at the
Berkeley City Club on 8 October 2003. It was a joint presentation
featuring Dr. Robert Hirst of the Mark Twain Project of the Bancroft
Library at the University of California Project at Berkeley and
the San Francisco Choral Artists. Hirst's presentation on music
in Twain's life was illustrated with selections of choral music
in historically authentic arrangements. The CD features hymns,
art songs, folk songs and spirituals. To my knowledge this CD
has never been released commercially, but there may be copies
still available through the Mark Twain Project.
Barb
========================================================================Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 15:05:04 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Wesley Britton <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Clemens and Music?
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Years past, Alison Ensor was working on Twain and music and intended to do a
book on the subject. I know he published some articles which you might find
using his name as a search term. I've often wondered what happened with that
project.
Wes
========================================================================Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 14:52:42 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Edison recorded Twain
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Dear Twainophiles,
In my research, I began to wonder if a recording of Sam's voice exists.
I've
read that Edison recorded Clemens reading American Claimant, but that the
recordings are lost. I've also seen a video clip online, but not
downloadable,
of Sam and two ladies, I assume his daughters (the quality is very poor.)
Since Edison invented the phonograph in late 1877, and since Sam was a
great
admirer of technology, it seems natural that the two of them should
collaborate. I've read about Sam's friendship with Tesla, too.
If a recording of Sam's voice still exists (after all, half of the original
ms. of Huckleberry Finn surfaced just a few years ago), it would be of
great
value to actually hear his drawl.
Does anyone have any light to shed on recordings of Sam?
Thanks,
David H Fears
========================================================================Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 16:04:38 -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: Clemens and Music?
Clara Clemens wrote an article about her father and music for Etude Magazine
in the 1920s. I don't have the citation handy, sorry. Paine also had a lot
to say about his musical tastes in his biography (besides slave songs, he
enjoyed Chopin nocturnes and the sorts of things Clara learned to play when
taking lessons with Leschetizky). Twain attended many operas and recitals in
Germany when living there in 1897-8. He later enjoyed of lot of what Ossip
Gabrilowitsch played at Stormfield and there is a commercial CD of OG's
piano playing, including OG's own compositions, if you want to hear somebody
playing piano who actually played for Twain.
Re: recordings of Twain. Edison visited Stormfield and made the film and
made a recording. The film survives because it was distributed with a 1909
film version of P&P; the recording does not survive because of a fire at the
Edison plant, ca. 1913. That film (there are two distinct segments, one with
his daughters, the other sauntering around the entrance to Stormfield) can
be seen as part of the Ken Burns film on Twain. There are several known
instances when Twain's voice was recorded and a search of the MT Forum
archives will yield those postings (including my own), which pretty much
cover what is known on the subject.
Re: Twain wearing white suits. I don't recall that it was ever clarified by
anyone, but Twain regularly wore white suits in the early 1870s, but like
most men of the day, wore them only in the summer. A little digging would
probably confirm he wore them in the 1860s. Reporters who interviewed him in
the early 1870s repeatedly comment on his dress, mentioning his white summer
attire. But his white suits only became news-worthy when Twain began wearing
them outside the summer months. I think Twain himself-- or maybe it was
Paine-- claims this began when he wore a white suit to the Congressional
copyright hearings, but I think it began a little earlier than that. In
seeking an answer to this question, do keep in mind that finding a photo of
Twain in a white suit in a given year does not really mean much unless you
can verify the month in which he was wearing it.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 19:05:16 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Angelo Cifaldi <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Clemens and Music?
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The cite to Etude Magazine is:
May 1923 Vol. XLI, No. 5 pp.295-6 "How I Got Rid of Nervousness in Public"
by Clara Clemens. It is supplemented
by an extract from the article, "Mark Twain and Music" by Ralph Holmes from
The Century, CIV (October), 844-50.
Angelo Cifaldi
========================================================================Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 13:12:25 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Miller, Jeffrey W" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Edison recorded Twain
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It's my understanding that Edison did record Sam, but the wax cylinders
were later destroyed in a fire. You might try searching the archives of
this list--I know the topic has been discussed before.
https://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/twain-l.html
Jeff Miller
English Department
========================================================================Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 10:47:05 -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: Twain and Emperor Norton?
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Fellow Twainiacs,
What do you all know about Joshua Norton, the self-proclaimed Emperor Norton
I of San Franscisco (born, ca. 1818- died, 1880)?
The other night I was told some wonderful stories about this local character
whose delusions apparently appealed to San Franciscans so much that they
supported him economically. He did various wonderful things as declaring
the US Congress dissolved, and also met with the genuine Emperor of Peru.
Among other things, this guy told me that Emperor Norton is thought to be
the inspiration for the King in _Huck Finn_.
I've looked up Norton in the library and found that there are numerous books
and articles, though none seem to overtly connect Norton and Twain, except
for a _Bonanza_ episode, apparently, that also "starred" MT.
My question is -- do any of you know who thinks Norton might be the
inspiration for the character of the King? Or it is an erroneous impression
because of the power of pop culture and television's authority? I don't
remember anything about Norton in any of the things I've read on Twain and
San Francisco--though I could just have been inattentive. Has any Twain
scholar made this connection/argument?
Thanks, all.
Regards,
Sharon
========================================================================Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 11:08:58 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Twain and Emperor Norton?
In-Reply-To:
<[log in to unmask]>
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The most extensive argument that the King in _Huckleberry Finn_
was based on Emperor Norton appears in the book _Norton I, Emperor
of the United States_ by William Drury (Dodd, Mead, 1986). Drury
partially bases his argument on the letter Twain wrote to
William Dean Howells on September 3, 1880.
The complete text of Drury's book (roughly formatted) is online at:
http://www.emperornorton.net/norton-drury.txt
Barb
========================================================================Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 10:17:30 -0600
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Mark Coburn <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain and Emperor Norton?
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Sharon--
A Google search on "Mark Twain" and "Emperor Norton" turns up 14,900 items.
A glance at a few suggests that the belief that Norton is a model for the
King is widespread. That certainly doesn't mean it's true. But you would
surely find some of those items worth exploring. Certainly Twain knew
Norton and spoke of him in print. I imagine Edgar M.Branch's books on early
Clemens would be an excellent place to start serious research.
I have at hand a casual old nicely illustrated collection, MARK TWAIN'S SAN
FRANCISCO, ed. Bernard Taper. It's fun, but also maddening because there's
no index. But it does catch some of the most obvious Twain/Norton links.
The little I recall of Norton makes him seem an improbable model for the
King. The King is a con man, generally ruthless in his motives, and fully
aware that he is not regal. His kingship is merely a role he takes on
for a few weeks in his long life. That doesn't sound to me much like the
good Emperor (who also declared himself to be, as I recall, "Protector of
Mexico").
Happy sleuthing,
Mark Coburn
========================================================================Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 13:23:44 -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 and Emperor Norton?
Barb has this exactly right. Drury, which I think is the best book on
Norton, makes his arguement in the Prologue, but the rest of his very
entertaining and informative book would seem to undercut this thesis. Norton
was a harmless delusional "character" and was nearly universally loved for
it. The King was a crook and the town's reaction to him was something a few
degrees higher than warm regard. One parallel that can be made is that Twain
had deep sympathies for both Norton I and the King. Also, some of the
illustrations of the King by E W Kemble (see esp. p. 174 in HF) rather
resemble some portraits of Norton I, and one of Kemble's drawings of the
King (the one that appears at p. 174 of the first ed.) was used on the
poster issued to advertise HF in San Francisco where Norton I would have
been instantly recognized by his loyal and bemused "subjects." That drawing
was not used on the poster issued for the east coast. Still, it seems a
tenuous "fit" --although intriguing. CLEMENS OF THE CALL and EARLY TALES AND
SKETCHES have Twain's contemporary writings about Norton I, and would be a
place to start building the case.
Did your friend tell you about the money issued by Norton I? One of his
banknotes had a woodcut portrait of Norton himself in one corner, and in the
other corner the portrait of a well-known San Francisco hooker. We now live
in a day when we tolerate Presidents on our money.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 16:36:11 +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: ANother question
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Dear Group:
Did Twain or Livy perceive Susan's death as a punishment for any behavior in
her life? Please understand totally that I am not stating that I think so,
but I wondered if that premise was ever broached by either Twain or Livy.
Thank you.
Camy
========================================================================Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 16:34:24 +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: the duke in Huck Finn
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Dear Group:
Evidently, the duke in Huckleberry Finn was more adult in reality, and Twain
had to tone him down. I always remember a remark a professor made in class,
stating that the Victorian age was noted far more pornography than anyone
would have guessed.
Just my primitive take on this,
Camy
========================================================================Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 20:31:26 +0300
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Crawford Steve <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: computer-based text analysis
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Greetings all,
I am planning to conduct some text analysis on certain of Twain's
works, and wanted to ask the group about which electronic files, if
any, were most suitable for using in such a method. For example,
would the files on the Project Gutenberg site be more "academically
acceptable" than those located elsewhere? It seems that Gutenberg
texts go through a fairly rigorous ongoing process of checking.
Thanks much for your thoughts,
Steve Crawford
========================================================================Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 13:10:38 -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: Twain and Emperor Norton?
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Barb and Mark,
Your help is much appreciated.
Mark, I agree with you about the king--the connection seemed to me to have
the same problems you outline here, which is why I thought it must be
erroneous. I'll enjoy looking up the references in Drury and Branch. Who
knows where it will lead.
The forum is a wonderful fount of information. Thank you.
Sharon
========================================================================Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 19:28:05 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Comments: Resent-From: Sharon Goetz <[log in to unmask]>
Comments: Originally-From: Sharon Goetz <[log in to unmask]>
From: Sharon Goetz <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: computer-based text analysis
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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It all depends on what sort of analysis you want to conduct, and why. If
you go with Project Gutenberg, you may want to check which editions
underlie individual releases of their texts. The accuracy applied there
(now via http://www.pgdp.net/) is meant only to ensure that a text matches
the edition that was scanned. PG rarely has the luxury of caring which
out-of-copyright edition it picks up.
Naturally, if a PG text's header doesn't declare which print edition it
used, things will be more complicated, since it'll be harder to find the
introduction (if any) once attached to that text and learn thereby how the
text was established. If you're analyzing dialectal usage in dialogue,
whether an edition normalizes spelling will matter, for example. Depending
on when PG released the text you're interested in, you might also try to
find the PGDP forum that discussed its proofreading or to contact the
person who managed scanning/correcting of the PG version. Some PGDP
managers add project-specific instructions to the standard formatting and
proofreading guidelines, both of which are linked from
http://www.pgdp.net/c/faq/faq_central.php
--and documentation of those instructions isn't visible in a text's final
release. I helped some time ago to proofread part of Holinshed's
_Chronicles_, and I see no enumeration in the final product of the minor
tweaks that Ingram, the manager, had us enact.
Since PG can't afford time-wise to attest the full provenance of its
texts, I'd be reluctant to call their output "academically acceptable,"
useful though it be for casual reading. At this time I'm not sure of
reliable electronic textual resources to suggest, though.
Cheers,
Sharon Goetz
========================================================================Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:50:51 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Jules A Hojnowski <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Fwd: Clemens and Music in his works???
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hello,
I'm sorry to both you again, but I guess I asked too many questions in my
e-mail when I asked about Clemens and music, and my real question got lost.
What I really need to know is:
Did Clemens use any of this music he liked in his works???
For example,
Faulkner used the "Blues" tune "That Evening Sun"
it was a name for a tune and the name of his story,
and he used some of the metaphors or cultural codes from the blues music
in his story. Both the "blues" music and his story uses repetition and
variations, with the song was a 12 bar structure.
Faulkner would talk about blues music and Negro spirituals
in his works.
Do any of you know if he used any tunes in his works?
Whether talking about someone singing them in his story?
or using the words of a song to help the story?
or using the metaphors from a song in his stories??
thank you so much!
Jules
========================================================================Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:09:53 -0600
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Mark Coburn <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Clemens and Music in his works???
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He certainly "used" music he disliked, in his discussion of Wagner in A
Tramp Abroad and I think in an essay or two. His comments on opera
audiences contain the usual exaggerations, but are sometimes acute.
He makes rather loving fun of the popular musical war-horses of ante-bellum
days (e.g. "The Battle of Prague") in the Grangerford episode of Huckleberry
Finn and the somewhat parallel "House Beautiful" chapter of Life on the
Mississippi. Life on the Mississippi also includes a chapter of Huck's
story that Twain later decided not to include in the novel. In that
chapter a raftsman sings a verse or two of a slightly ribald ballad he
liked (about a woman who loved her husband, but loved another man "twice as
well").
See also his use of a song from "The Mikado" in "The Man That Corrupted
Hadleyburg." And see the early chapter of Pudd'nhead Wilson where Angelo
and Luigi are presented as European-trained performers of four-handed piano
pieces.
All in all, I suspect the more you examine Twain's writings, the more bits
of favorite music you'll find.
.....In fact, the longer I stretch this message the more I recall--doesn't
he include his own lengthy version/spoof of "The Erie Canal" in Roughing It?
And where is it that he praises highly the Fiske Jubilee singers?--He hears
them perform in Europe and they remind him achingly of his early days.
I seriously doubt you'll find anything as formal as the Faulknerian tricks
you mention--for Twain it's likelier to be casual quotes and allusions. But
I do urge you to explore his travel books and such as well as his fiction.
Whoops...one more before I shut up. Is it in the Autobiography that he says
he has always found a couple of lines from "My Old Kentucky Home" haunting
and unbearably sad?
Mark Coburn
========================================================================Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:54:09 -1000
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: James E Caron <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Clemens and Music in his works???
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He also said (during his sojourn in San Franscisco) that he preferred the banjo to the performances of the famous pianist, Louis Gottschalk.
Jim Caron
Univ of Hawaii
========================================================================Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 18:42:31 -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: Emp Norton
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Thank you, Kevin. Yes, my friend told me about the money, but not about the
hooker in the corner--and that's fascinating about the advertising poster in
San Francisco; I may contact you privately about finding some things, if
that's all right. My friend said that the locals actually accepted the
money in their businesses, subsidizing the Emperor's lifestyle. That might
have been something that attracted Twain as well, though he gave the king a
completely different character and twist.
Again, I'm thrilled and grateful for the generous help of the forum. Thanks
again.
Best,
Sharon
========================================================================Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 16:20:32 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: query
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Can anyone tell me or point me to information regarding sales figures for
Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in Twain's lifetime? Subsequently, is there any way
of
knowing how many each book has sold since its original publication?
Thanks,
ACR
========================================================================Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 18:47:24 -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: Clemens and Music in his works???
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Jules,
In the _Autobiography_ on page 61 of Neider's edition, Twain mentions a
string of minstrel songs, the first of which he also has Aunt Polly's young
child slave, Jim, sing in Adv. of TS:
"Buffalo Gals"
"Camptown Races"
"Old Dan Tucker"
"The Blue Juniata"
"Sweet Ellen Bayne"
"Nelly Bly"
"A Life on the Ocean Wave"
"The Larboard Watch"
I believe there are also songs mentioned in the Early Tales and Sketches,
but I can't recall specifics. I know he talks about musicians there.
Also, in my dissertation, I wrote about Twain's use of songs in "Tom
Sawyer's Conspiracy." Jim is thrown in jail after Tom's conspiracy goes
awry and leaves Jim on the scene with a real corpse. In jail, he shows an
appalling tendency to break into song and dance a "breakdown" ("TSC" 234,
Ch. 9).
He sings "Ain't got long to stay here". This might refer to the spiritual
"Steal Away," which repeats the line over and over within it.
It's reputed to be a song of the Underground Railroad, and is supposed to be
how some slaves signaled they were ready to escape and how some conductors
signaled that they were in the area. This latter point is possibly
apocryphal; the source I read it in offered no support. It seems plausible,
though. The spirituals were often coded with references to heavenly freedom
that also meant breaking earthly bonds.
It might also refer to another spiritual collected by Eva Jessye called
"Ain't got long to stay heah" (published in _My Spirituals_ in 1927, but
remembered from her childhood in Coffeyville, Kansas). It has different
words, but the same idea. Both are lovely. I have a copy of the sheet
music somewhere, but as I recall, the music is very different.
And finally, after the boys offer Jim an escape plan that makes the
"evasion" look like a walk in the park, Jim begins to sing "'Jinny git de
hoecake done,' and the gayest songs he knowed" ("TSC", 234, Ch. 9). "Jinny"
is a minstrel tune by Joel Sweeney. And then Jim does his dance.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Sharon
========================================================================Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 19:44:25 +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: costume advice
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Dear Group:
AT the risk of being trite, I have been invited to a Halloween party. Of course I intend to go as twain. I need some costume advice. Anything you can suggest would be helpful.
Thank you.\
The first woman Twain,
CAmy
========================================================================Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 15:42:02 +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: Re: Edison recorded Twain
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I am not aware of Thomas Edison recording Twain; however, Twain bought an
Edison phonograph and tried making dictation recordings with the machine. In
a letter to Howells, Twain said that he had made several cylinders of notes
on the machine, but in the end it was easier to use a pen. No one seems to
know what ever became of these recordings....sigh....
Stay Well
RD
========================================================================Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 10:37:51 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Wesley Britton <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: FAQ
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The recent queries regarding Edison and Twain are, as many of us know, a
repeat of previous discussions. Of course, as new members come and go, this
is normal and typical of long standing list serves.
I wonder--could we collectively come up with a "Frequently Asked Questions"
file we could post at the Forum? It could contain text with answers to the
matter of Twain's recordings or links to sources where newcomers can find
what they need. I hesitate to suggest this as we all know our moderator is
taxed beyond his limits, so this would be more a collaborative project. I'm
trying to think of the most frequent threads, and admit the wax cylinders
matter probably tops the list. Not sure, off the top of my head, what other
hot topics have been.
Anyway, just an idea.
Wes Britton
========================================================================Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 09:37:24 -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: FAQ
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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1. Huck Finn and book banning/ censorship issues.
2. best biographies/ best critical books about MT.
3. Mark Twain annual award--and who gets it, and why they are not worthy.
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University
========================================================================Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 11:27:53 -0500
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Jim Zwick <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Clemens and Music in his works???
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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In 1901, Twain wrote "The Battle Hymn of the Republic (Brought Down
to Date)." I'm not aware of other parodies of songs he may have written
but I wouldn't be surprised if there are others.
Jim Zwick
[log in to unmask]
http://www.boondocksnet.com/
========================================================================Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 12:26:01 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: FAQ
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After being directed to the archives for this group and facing only screens
full of links to each year, I've wondered why someone doesn't simply INDEX
the archives so we might look there before asking our question?
David H. Fears
========================================================================Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 11:53:28 -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: FAQ
At the very top of the archive page you will see a link for searching the
archives. Type "Edison" or whatever combination of keywords you wish and see
if that works.
That search link could be in bigger letters to gain attention, or perhaps
have a miniature Twain bobble-head next to it (in a white suit of uncertain
date).
I'd suggest that whatever FAQs are chosen, that those be signified by an
icon on the MT Forum homepage, and perhaps a shortcut icon at the archive
page as well. Rather than rely on our collectively failing memories, I'd
also suggest that somebody with both the time and the inclination formulate
the FAQs by scrambling around in the archives to see what topics seem to
repeat themselves.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 13:23:30 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Wesley Britton <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: FAQ
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David,
The problem, I imagine, is that indexing all the archives would be
time-consuming to the extreme. In addition, many discussions have limited
long-term interest, as in duels between participants over personal matters.
Plus, if you were to seek out, say Edison and wax cyliners, you'd have to
read the original question and then a variety of responses, some with
pertinent information, others with glancing memories of something
half-recalled. I don't recall (for example) when this list began, but it
seems over a decade of posts have come and gone. I guess I'd add the cream
of what has been posted here--the reviews--are already available in full
text at the Forum.
So, again, a FAQ file might direct folks to the most asked areas of
interest. I liked Hal's additions--well, on biographies and censorship. I'm
guessing his inclusion of the Mark Twain Awards was a joke--and another
indication of what is likely not of long-term interest. Everything should be
archived--in case someone really did want to explore those Awards--but I was
thinking of help for those seeking quick information online--admitting these
topics are well-covered in print sources like Mark Twain A to Z.
Wes Britton
========================================================================Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 20:52:56 +0300
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Crawford Steve <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Electronic versions of Twain books for research
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Many thanks to Sharon, Barbara and Vic for replying to my question
about which "electronic" versions of Twain's books might be suitable
for computer-based text analysis. The consensus so far seems to be
the the Gutenberg versions may not be academically reliable. There
may be, according to Vic, some 1st edition electronic transcriptions
and I will look into this. Perhaps someone on the list knows where
they might be?
Of course if I set out to transcribe from my own 1st editions (at
least very early printings) I still have the same dilemma, namely
accuracy and reliability. Ultimately it may come to choosing between
the lessor of the evils. Vic points out that he found some of the
Gutenberg files to be transcribed from the 4th American version and
are thus less than desirable.
My inquiry is primarily of a content analysis nature. So crossed t's
and dotted I's, and proper illustrations and so on, the kinds of
things that people look to for early 1st additions, are not that
important, especially when looking across several thousand pages
(three books) of content for trends in what is being said. I took
Barbara's suggestion and contacted Dr. Hirst at the Mark Twain Papers
in Berkeley to see what plans they may have to bring early editions
online. But in the absence of something ideal I may have to fall back
on what is available and acknowledge this in the study.
Thanks again,
Steve Crawford
Jyväskylä
Finland
========================================================================Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 18:47:20 +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: The golden arm story
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Dear Group:
Do I understand that the story of the "golden Arm", (the ghost story),
actually came from Twain's childhood? Can it be found in any of his
literary works, or other than Holbrook's rendition, can it be found
anywhere on line?
Thank you.
CAmy
========================================================================Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: The golden arm story
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Camy,
I inadvertently left off the Google links that led me to those answers of
your question regarding the Golden Arm story, thereby creating the
impression
that I felt your question should not have been asked to the group. I
apologize for the impression this may have left to you and others in the
group. I'm
continually forgetting an attachment to an email, or a link to a site, or
which end is up. It's this infernal annotated chronology of Sam's infernal
life
and being bogged down in 1870 that has scrambled my brain.
Here is one site I saw after googling "The Golden Arm" + Twain:
_http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/mtwain/bl-mtwain-howto.htm_
(http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/mtwain/bl-mtwain-howto.htm)
I might add that young Sam's exposure to Negroes at Quarles' farm every
summer is my guess as to the source of the story--that is, Uncle Dan'l, who
some
later think Sam used as the model for Nigger Jim. Ghost and spook stories
were the rage back then, especially among the slaves.
David H Fears
========================================================================Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 10:37:53 -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: Edison recorded Twain
Those recordings Twain made of himself (he was dictating The American
Claimant) were sitting by his desk in Hartford when a reporter visited him
in May, 1891, just before the family closed down that house and moved. Twain
played a sampling of them for the reporter and commented that such
recordings were of little use to a busines or literary man, and that until
the technology was perfected such recordings would "be of more benefit to
posterity than to ourselves."
Sadly, posterity has not yet seen the benefit of those particular
recordings. Did Twain take them with him when he left Hartford? If they were
left behind, then the trail gets cold quickly. Much of what was left in the
Hartford home in 1891 ended up being stored in the carriage house out back,
suffering the extremes of New England winters and summers, and was sold at
auction in 1903 when the house was sold. Neither the phonograph
player/recorder nor the wax cylinders are mentioned in the ads for that 1903
sale. The two known ads list tables, chairs, a sideboard, a big mirror, a
bookcase, bed, chamber sets, crockery, carpets, and bric-a-brac --some of it
mahogany and very likely including much of the furniture used in the
downstairs "mahogany room" --all sold right out of the "stable." I'm afraid
I have only a few of the things sold off in 1903 (I arrived a bit late), but
no wax cylinders.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:43:04 -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: Another FAQ
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
Mime-version: 1.0
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On 9/14/06 12:22 AM, "David H Fears" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Nigger Jim
Since this phrase appeared again in my e-mail this morning, it reminded me
of another potential question for our proposed FAQ list.
Allow me to be the first to respond to this, by saying that it is an
offensive phrase that does not appear in Twain's works.
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:31:54 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Another FAQ
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Hal is correct that the proper name Nigger Jim has received extensive
discussion in previous Forum posts and that the name does not appear
as such in Twain's writings. However, contemporary newspaper reports
from 1884 have quoted Twain using it during the Cable-Twain lecture
tour when Twain was reading passages from _Huckleberry Finn_.
Whether or not Twain actually used the phrase as a name in his
speeches during that tour or whether or not his manager Major
Pond provided advance newspaper material with such usage and quotes
is another question not yet answered. The fact remains that newspapers
from 1884 quoted Twain as using it.
Barb
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 10:45:46 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Horn Jason <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Another FAQ
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Professor Bush,
Excuse my personal request, but could you tell me where I can
find the full work that includes the Berry quote. Great stuff, this
sowing, continuity, and presence into the future. It's got me thinking
deper than necessary for my next English 1101 class.
Jason G. Horn, Ph.D
Gordon College
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 10:39:31 -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: MT & the n word
Comments: To: Cal Pritner <[log in to unmask]>
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
Mime-version: 1.0
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Folks; as most will have understood but as apparently a few are
misconstruing (as communicated in private notes), I am certainly not arguing
that Twain did not approve of, or use, the term "nigger." Yes, it turns up
regularly in his correspondence, journals, and so on. And of course, he
also used "nigger" over 200 times in Huck Finn. I was not questioning that,
although the concept of his "approval" is difficult to understand. I would
say, at the very least, that he appeared to be quite comfortable with the
term, since it shows up in many other works besides HF, like PW.
So first off, to be clear, yes, I was aware of the fact that he uses the "N"
word.
I was talking about the name "Nigger Jim"--which he does not use in the
novel. I was unaware of what Barb is pointing out--that it turns up in
interviews of 1884. Her point that his use of the term "Nigger Jim" is
still disputable, given the nature of the interviews, is worth making.
Maybe Gary Scharnhorst can give us some insight into that one--Twain's use
of "Nigger Jim" in interviews. I suppose we can give those transcribers the
benefit of the doubt, however, especially if it shows up in several
different places.
Ironically I mentioned any of this, simply to try and alleviate the storm of
protest and vitriol that bringing up this topic would initiate--especially
since, as I mention, this is pretty well plowed ground for those of us who
have been on here a few years.
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 11:43:10 -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: MT & the n word
I was unaware of what Barb is pointing out--that it turns up in
> interviews of 1884. Her point that his use of the term "Nigger Jim" is
> still disputable, given the nature of the interviews, is worth making.
>
Perhaps a misunderstanding here... I don't think that's what Barb was
saying. Barb reported that newspaper reporters used the term or implied that
Twain used the term in his readings during the Twain-Cable tour, not that
Twain used the term in his interviews during that tour. I have read the 19
interviews Twain gave during that tour and although HF is mentioned a few
times, the phrase "Nigger Jim" never comes up. In fact, I don't think Jim
gets mentioned at all by Twain in any interview during that tour.
I've not seen the term in any of the promotional materials prepared by Pond
(although I don't have any examples of any "press kit" Pond might have given
to reporters in each town, and no evidence that Pond did so). I do have a
few reporters' accounts of that tour in which they use the name Nigger Jim
themselves, but when they quote Twain directly Jim is just Jim. A careful
persual of the books by Arlin Turner and Fred Lorch might clarify things
further or even reveal reporters actually quoting Twain using the name. I
think the Tauchnitz edition of HF that Twain used for later public readings
(not the Twain-Cable tour, but in 1895) is at Berkeley and well marked. I
think some of it was reproduced in the Berkeley edition, but I don't know if
that marked copy of HF might shed some light on this question.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but there's a distinct difference between
putting the name Nigger Jim in Twain's mouth or just having a reporter use
it. The question of Twain's use of the term in other [non literary] contexts
is a separate issue and a book-length discussion. I do remember many years
ago being dismayed to discover Twain using the word "nigger" in a letter he
wrote somebody, ca. 1900-05.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:17:58 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Edison recorded Twain
In-Reply-To: <004501c6d74a$93cd60e0$0200a8c0@DELLOPTI>
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It seems likely those recordings noted by the interviewer in 1891
may have been those recalled by family attorney Franklin Whitmore
in his interview printed in the _Hartford Courant, Sunday Magazine_,
November 26, 1922. Whitmore stated:
"He made about three dozen records and then gave it up. I
remember these were placed in the Lincoln Trust Company
vault with other papers. I presume they are still in
existence."
Determining which Lincoln Trust Company vault and who had access
might provide more answers to what happened to the recordings.
Barb
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:32:12 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Another FAQ
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In a message dated 9/14/2006 6:44:38 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
>Allow me to be the first to respond to this, by saying that it is an
>offensive phrase that does not appear in Twain's works.
That must be news to me and the millions of folks who have delighted in
Huck
Finn. IT was indeed a term Sam often used in his letters--it does not
appear
in his works?? Please elucidate this gray head with your ivory-tower
enlightenment. Making such a statement to swing in the breeze can only
produce a
squeaking sound bound to keep one awake at night.
David H Fears
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:52:47 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: MT & the n word
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The point may be missed here...the term "nigger" was in widespread use
throughout Sam's life, and his use of it, beyond some early letters, was
never
meant to be derogatory. How politically correct we are, to attempt to look
backwards through our own hypocritical lens. Phooey.
David H Fears
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:05:03 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Ballard, Terry Prof." <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Another FAQ
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Perhaps I can shed some light on this. I visited the Project Gutenberg
text of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and, using <CTRL>F, put in the
word in question. I got 222 hits for the word and its plural form.
Terry Ballard
Quinnipiac University
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:31:42 -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: Another FAQ
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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On 9/14/06 12:32 PM, "David H Fears" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> IT was indeed a term Sam often used in his letters--it does not appear
> in his works?? Please elucidate this gray head with your ivory-tower
> enlightenment.
Your purple prose is mildly endearing, but I said phrase, not term. The
phrase "Nigger Jim," guys, does not appear in AHF.
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:55:09 -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: Another FAQ
Yet another misunderstanding...
The word by itself appears in the text and in the contents. The word counts
differ between various scholars at different times because some count only
the text and not the contents. Also, the text itself has changed since 1885
and the discovery of the long-missing half of the original ms.
The phrase "Nigger Jim" does not appear, I think, but one time, and then
only as a descriptive phrase, not as a name. The character's name is Jim,
not Nigger Jim, as so commonly supposed. This whole discussion has been here
before and lit out for the archives long ago, making it an over-ripe pick
for the FAQ proposal.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:58:18 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: "Miller, Jeffrey W" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: MT & the n word
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Due to the limited historical record we have available, it may not be possible to determine if Sam ever used the term "Nigger Jim" when referring to Jim outside of HF.
I'd venture to say, however, that Sam's actual pronouncement (or not) of the term has not been as influential upon modern usage as Hemingway's oft-quoted comment on HF in _Green Hills of Africa_, which refers to Jim as "Nigger Jim."
Jeff Miller
Gonzaga U.
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:10:43 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Larry Howe <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: MT & the n word
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"Never meant to be derogatory"? Really? then what was it meant to be?
Merely descriptive? then why are none of the white people characterized by
their race? To be sure even black characters like Roxy refers to other
blacks by the term, but note that it's usually if not always a derogatory
reference such as when she rebuffs Jasper's flirting or puts Tom in his
place by noting that his cowardice is the product of his "nigger blood." In
these statements, she shows that she has absorbed the hierarchical
assumptions that had long been conveyed by the practice of racially
identifying blacks as those in white culture do.
And by the way, the name "Nigger Jim" was broadcast rather influentially by
Hemingway in his well-intended but egregious misreading of AHF. I suspect
that the frequency of references to Jim with the racial designation included
spiked after Hemingway formalized the practice in _The Green Hills of
Africa_ (p. 22).
--Larry Howe
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:09:32 -0400
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
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From: Peter Salwen <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: MT & the n word
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I've tried to steer clear of this thorny and -- to my way of thinking --
lame-brained controversy, but I've got to jump in here, because I think
Larry's on the wrong track when he accuses Hemingway of "broadcasting . . .
the name 'Nigger Jim.'"
As far as I know, the only time Hemingway put those two words together was
in the following:
"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called
Huckleberry Finn. If you read it you must stop where the Nigger Jim is
stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating. But
it's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There
was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since."
To my eye, Hemingway is not referring to a character known as "Nigger Jim,"
but to this particular character, Jim, who happens to be a gentleman of
color. He might just as well have written, "you must stop where the Nigger,
Jim, is stolen," or "stop where the nigger Jim is stolen," but he didn't.
Why not? My guess is that he rejected the first because of his well-known
allergy to punctuation, and the second for the same reason most of us prefer
"Negro" to "negro" -- i.e, he intended the capital "N" as a sign of respect.
It's his bad luck(or ours, really; Hemingway couldn't have cared less) that
some people take it to be part of his name, as in "Captain Stormfield" or
"Emperor Norton." If I'm right about this, it seems to support the position
-- popular in this group if not in the world at large -- that the people who
get hung up on the "Nigger Jim" issue probably don't understand the book
and/or never read it.
Peter Salwen
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:18:39 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Another FAQ
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In a message dated 9/14/2006 11:33:34 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
On 9/14/06 12:32 PM, "David H Fears" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> IT was indeed a term Sam often used in his letters--it does not appear
>> in his works?? Please elucidate this gray head with your ivory-tower
>> enlightenment.
>Your purple prose is mildly endearing, but I said phrase, not term. The
>phrase "Nigger Jim," guys, does not appear in AHF.
I am relieved. I'd supposed some menopausal, obstreperous, windbag at the
Concord Public Library had sconced Old Jim right out of the story--or
worse,
coppered him to be Puerto-Rican or French. My other qualities may be
somewhat
more endearing--however, Sam was fond of the purple pencil, and that's good
enough for me.
David H Fears
PS...my copy of A Readers Guide to the Short Stories of Mark Twain, by James
D. Wilson 1987, arrived yesterday and I can highly recommend the tome for
anyone wishing publication history, critical analyses and clear discussions
of
each story's relationship to other works by Sam.
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:26:45 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: MT & the n word
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In a message dated 9/14/2006 12:14:23 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
>"Never meant to be derogatory"? Really? then what was it meant to be?
>Merely descriptive? then why are none of the white people characterized by
>their race?
By SAM, not derogatory. Yes, descriptive. Slurring the word "Negro" in
itself was vernacular. White folks indeed were characterized by their
race--I'm
sure you can think of a few examples. Dago for Italians, Micks for Irish,
etc.,
even though visibility of various "white" races was not so clear cut. I
believe it was Sam himself that said we are all at least 50th cousins,and
that
all he had to know about a man was that he was a human being, which was bad
enough.
What I object to is the postmodern sensibility which attempts to tarbrush
historical use of a term in order to fling our most favorite epithet,
"racist."
Sam was far ahead of his time when it came to such issues (except for the
French, and perhaps the Indians). Heap stupid, I say.
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:39:28 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: john evans <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain and the 'N' word
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In HF, Twain uses Huck as the narrator. The use of the 'N' word is
part of Huck's background, vocabulary, and education or lack thereof.
It is part of his character. I think a more accurate indication of
Twain's feel for the word (at least in the 1870s or so)can be seen in
_Tom Sawyer_. Twain, as the narrator, never uses it, referring to the
slave children of St. Petersburg as "Negro boys and girls." The
kindly Welshman, who appears to be better educated than most in town,
uses the term "my Negro men." Injun Joe, Huck Finn, and Tom are the
only characters who use the "n" word. It appears that an argument
could be made that Twain was aware of the derogatory nature of the
term and was using it to create characters of low education or social
standing.
John Evans
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:57:02 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Ballard, Terry Prof." <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain and the 'N' word
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I have no scientific proof for this, but I strongly believe that Twain's
use of the N word was a first cousin of the following piece from The
Mysterious Stranger:
"But it was Father Peter, the other priest, that we all loved best and
were sorriest for. Some people charged him with talking around in
conversation that God was all goodness and would find a way to save all
his poor human children. It was a horrible thing to say, but there was
never any absolute proof that Father Peter said it."
In this case, Twain knew that his audience had advanced well past the
middle ages, and Father Peter's remarks seemed pretty reasonable, even
though the narrator is completely unaware. So too, in HF does he throw
the N word around liberally with a wink to his audience of Americans in
the 1880's who had advanced far enough since the Civil War to know that
slavery was an evil and that it was wrong to downgrade a people because
of their race, even though Huck the narrator was confused about these
matters.
Terry Ballard
Quinnipiac University
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:03:02 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Larry Howe <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: MT & the n word
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I don't have a copy of Hemingway handy (please don't tell that to the Oak
Park gov't officials or they'll probably run me out of town), but I'll take
Peter's transcription to be accurate and concede that the article "the"
before "Nigger Jim" does suggest that he's using one or the other following
nouns as appositives. However, punctuation allergies aside, to suggest that
the capitalization of the word "nigger" is a way of showing respect is a
stretch beyond the breaking point. When a white person terms a black person
as "a nigger," the former ranks the latter in a social hierarchy for which
there is flatly no respect granted with or without capitalization.
My point about Hemingway is that his words had weight, which Jeffrey Miller
similarly asserts in a post that beat mine to the list, and that once he put
"Nigger Jim" on the page, it gained currency for many others who commented
subsequently. The misreading to which I referred in my original remark is
his preposteous suggestion that readers should stop reading before the
Phelps farm sequence. Doing so serves only one purpose: to maintain the
romantic hero-worship of Huck. The cost of feeding that desire is failing
to confront and appreciate the more important criticism of
post-Reconstruction America represented in that final fifth of the
narrative. That final sequence of that narrative isn't cheating, it makes
the book. Stopping where Hemingway recommends is cheating--and I made the
same point to my son's high school English teacher who opted for the easy
way out because she wasn't prepared to address the novel's real complexity.
With regard to David Fears response to my query about Twain not referring to
white people by race--well, let me just say thanks for making my point. The
litany of ethnic slurs you offered as examples could hardly be thought of as
simply descriptive; much like the term "nigger," they serve to subordinate
an individual in ways that are far from subtle.
LH
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 17:03:20 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain and the 'N' word
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In a message dated 9/14/2006 1:41:33 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
>It appears that an argument
>could be made that Twain was aware of the derogatory nature of the
>term and was using it to create characters of low education or social
>standing.
>John Evans
That's the infernal trouble with arguments--they're like beds which can be
made or unmade any number of ways and are just as useful for a good snore
session. Your point here is taken, save for that little detail that Huck is
the
great moral compass of the book--going against all societal norms for what
is
in the heart (note: not conscience, which Sam believed was little more than
the voices of authority).
DHF
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 17:09:10 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: MT & the n word
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In a message dated 9/14/2006 1:59:55 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
With regard to David Fears response to my query about Twain not referring
to
white people by race--well, let me just say thanks for making my point.
The
litany of ethnic slurs you offered as examples could hardly be thought of
as
simply descriptive; much like the term "nigger," they serve to subordinate
an individual in ways that are far from subtle.
This reminds--there are many places in Innocents Abroad, or letters written
to the Alta California which became the book, that point out racial markers
for other than blacks. I'd haul up a few for airing and de-mothballing, but
I'm past that stage in my WIP, so dasn't dip my cranium back into those
halcyon
days of 1867 with Sam and the good Quakers today.
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:25:34 -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 and the 'N' word
> In HF, Twain uses Huck as the narrator. The use of the 'N' word is
> part of Huck's background, vocabulary, and education or lack thereof.
> It is part of his character. I think a more accurate indication of
> Twain's feel for the word (at least in the 1870s or so)can be seen in
> _Tom Sawyer_. Twain, as the narrator, never uses it, referring to the
> slave children of St. Petersburg as "Negro boys and girls." The
> kindly Welshman, who appears to be better educated than most in town,
> uses the term "my Negro men." Injun Joe, Huck Finn, and Tom are the
> only characters who use the "n" word. It appears that an argument
> could be made that Twain was aware of the derogatory nature of the
> term and was using it to create characters of low education or social
> standing
Nicely put, and exactly why I said that the use of the word in HF and
Twain's non-literary uses of the word in his letters and elsewhere, both
early and late in life, are separate issues, with implications that have
been written about at length elsewhere.
Has anyone, by the way, traced his use of the word in each of his works and
all of his letters and notebooks? Examining how he used the word in his
writings (as narrator or putting into a character's mouth) and how he used
it in privatehimself might yield worthwhile insights.
I would also take issue with Mr Fears claim that Twain was racially way
ahead of his time. A casual examination of racial attitudes among other
progressive political and social figures of the day would place Twain among
the most progressive people of his day, but not way out ahead of them, and
frequently quite paternalistic. This is not an indictment of Twain as
"racist" by any means, but rather an observation that his racial attitudes
are far too often "oversold." I seem to recall an article on this very topic
in recent years, but somebody else will have to refresh my memory with a
specific citation.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 17:30:19 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Larry Howe <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain and the 'N' word
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Kevin--
Your request for tracing his use of the word "nigger" in his works made me
recall an editorial he wrote in the Buffalo _Express_ titled "Only a
Nigger" in which he criticizes the execution of the wrong man for a crime in
the South, after which the officials responsible for the miscarriage of
justice simply shrugged it off with the title of the piece.
This piece is just one reason for those interested in Twain to get a hold of
Joe McCullough and Janice McIntire-Strasburg's edition _Mark Twain at the
Buffalo Express_ (disclosure, I reviewed it for the Twain Web in 1999).
This piece also suggests a meaningful source for Huck's similar response to
Aunt Sally when she asks if any was hurt during his fabricated steamboat
accident. His response "No'm, just a nigger," has been variously
interpreted as signalling Huck's racism on the one hand to a signal that he
understands how he should play the point to this audience.
LH
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 18:49:33 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Barry Crimmins <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: MT & the n word
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This would probably be the wrong time to ask if anyone knows if there
are any recordings of Twain using the "n" word.
So I won't.
Appropriately,
Barry Crimmins
========================================================================Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 22:39:44 -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 and the 'N' word
Curious about my own question, when things slowed down this evening, I did a
quick search in the MT's World CD and found the word used in the following
works: PW, GE, TA, IA, RI, LM, TS, HF, TSA, TSD, AC, Autobiog., True Story,
Johnny Greer, Curing a Cold, Curious Exp. and two letters (1898 to Howells,
1893 to Fred Hall). Although not found in my CD search I'd add to this list
Capt Stormfield, King Leopold, and Letters from the Earth, plus the ca.
1900-1905 letter, at least another 2-3 letters, the notebooks, and other
short sketches or newspaper pieces.
I didn't spend much time checking the context of each literary use, but each
one I did look up was spoken by a character, or was a quote of somebody
else's speech, rather than Twain himself as narrator.
Tracking down his specific uses in his letters and "non-literary" contexts
would take a good deal more time and effort, and I have too many irons in
the fire at the moment, some of them Twainian, but I hope somebody follows
up in this direction and presents a paper on it at the next Elmira
Conference where they'll find me sitting down front to hear it.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 01:40:47 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain and the 'N' word
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I suppose Sam's reference to "Nigger of the Narcissus" doesn't count.
How silly--of course he used the word! It was common parlance in 19th
Century America...20th, too for most of it. Words change meaning and evolve.
I
remember well when "gay" meant festive.
David H Fears
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 09:10:29 -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's World CD
Within the last 30 minutes this AM I've had three people ask about where to
get the Twain's World CD. I don't know!!
It was published years ago for $39.95 by Bureau Development, but went out of
print within a few years and was being sold for within the last few years
for $5 on ebay and other online sources. I don't see them very often
anymore, but here's the latest listing I've seen for the publisher. I have
not checked to see if they are even still in business.
Bureau Development, 141 New Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054, USA, Tel: USA
800-828-4766 or 201-808-2700.
The CD used whatever texts it could find in the public domain, including
some poor choices like the 1917 Letters, but it's very handy for basic
keyword searching. It includes some interesting video clips of the era. The
Edison film of Twain at Stormfield can be found by going to the homepage,
click Galleries, then videos, then click "list" in the toolbar and scroll
down to "Twain live" and double-click. It's disappointingly tiny. I didn't
see a way to enlarge it, but you can freeze frame it. Some Nerd among us
might know how to enlarge it and even print from the freeze frames. Please
note that I capitalized nerd as a sign of respect.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 09:20:05 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Twain and the 'N' word
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To add to Kevin Mac Donnell's list to include Twain himself as narrator,
see the following:
"Mark Twain on the Colored Man," Virginia City _Territorial Enterprise_,
July 1865
"On Boot-backs" from _Golden Era_, 3 Nov. 1866 - reprinted in
_The Washoe Giant in San Francisco_
"The Treaty with China, _New York Tribune_, 4 August 1868
"Jane Lampton Clemens", written after 1890
Letter to Henry H. Rogers, 18 June 1896.
Barb
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 10:23:19 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: MT & the n word
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My grandfather was from England and he said that they used the
'n' word as a description for the color 'black'
It was not always a 'derogatory' word.
as for white people, have you ever seen the old Lone ranger
programs? particulary were Tonto says to the ranger:
"What do you mean 'we' white man?"
Just my .000002
Please don't flame me.
thanks,
Jules
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 09:40:27 -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: Bamboozled
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On 9/15/06 9:10 AM, "Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Please
> note that I capitalized nerd as a sign of respect.
But you failed to capitalize it in this last sentence. Pretty mixed
signals, in my book. What will people say in 100 years about your
ambivalence toward the technologically empowered? Is it within you, or are
you merely reflecting the ethos of our times?
Speaking of mixed signals, last night my wife and I, purely by coincidence,
watched Spike Lee's "Bamboozled." That is quite an experience, and it was
especially striking after our little discussion about race and epithets from
yesterday. My apologies to the LIST for commencing another long set of
posts, when in fact my original post was meant to say that we need no more
long posts on this tired topic. I assumed there would be near consensus on
my points, but was shown (once more) to be quite deceived. Perhaps, I was
bamboozled.
None of which I want to rehash or even bring up again, except to say that if
you have not seen that film, you might like to see it. I will not say "you
should see it," since apparently this form of speech is seen by some to be
violent and oppressive. On the other hand, you decidedly might not like its
strange and harsh renderings--which obviously is one of Lee's major points.
It invokes blackface minstrelsy and racial stereotypes in general, and
demonstrates so many angles on these perplexing and distressing topics.
I do not get the impression that Spike Lee cares a bit whether the term in
question is capitalized or not.
Peace,
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 10:00:45 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Larry Howe <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Bamboozled
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I second the motion on bamboozled. Among many interesting elements, the
montage of film and tv images that ridicule blacks is stunning. I use it in
my film history course as a supplement to the unit on Grifftith's _Birth of
a Nation_ and Micheaux's _Within Our Gates_. If you've not seen _Network_,
watching that first helps to frame the issue of media influence in
_Bamboozled_.
Though I don't agree with Lenny Bruce's criticism of Twain's portrayal of
blacks and use of dialect, his bit on "gwyne" is also very provocative and
worth a listen.
LH
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 10:06:23 -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: Bamboozled
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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On 9/15/06 10:00 AM, "Larry Howe" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> If you've not seen _Network_,
> watching that first helps to frame the issue of media influence in
> _Bamboozled_.
Funny you mention that-- we talked about NETWORK after the viewing. It also
made us think of THE PRODUCERS--the desire to create a production that is so
bad that it is a hit.
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 11:53:21 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: FAQ
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Dear Fellow Twainiacs,
When the idea was first suggested to issue an award for comedy in Sam's
name, I thought surely the first few candidates would make sense: Russell
Baker, Roy Blount Jr., Christopher Buckley, Art Buchwald, Garrison Keillor
and
S.J. Perelman, to name six from a long list.
But no.
The whole Mark Twain "prize" is about boosting the sagging future of
the Kennedy Center. Every recipient so far, though each of formidable
talent,
has worked primarily, if not exclusively, in television and film.
Can something be done about this?
Kathy O'Connell
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 11:07:25 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Twain and the 'N' word - correction
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Regarding the wording in Twain's "The Treaty with China" from
_New York Tribune_, 4 August 1868 -- this item does not fall
into the same category as the others in the previous list. Twain's
quote contained the correct spelling:
"The idea of making negroes citizens of the United States was startling
and disagreeable to me, but I have become reconciled to it; and being
reconciled to it, and the ice being broken and the principle established,
I am ready now for all comers. The idea of seeing a Chinaman a citizen of
the United States would have been almost appalling to me a few years ago,
but I suppose I can live through it now."
Barb
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 13:12:44 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain and the 'N' word - correction
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In a message dated 9/15/2006 9:11:06 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
>Regarding the wording in Twain's "The Treaty with China" from
>_New York Tribune_, 4 August 1868 --
Sam's arguments for the treaty included ease of immigration for the Chinese.
Strange, but when I read this recently in my research, the thought occurred
to me that Sam's arguments and very words can just as easily be used today
in
favor of "amnesty" or some path to citizenship for illegal aliens. Have
times changed much?
David H Fears
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 10:07:22 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Jerry Vorpahl <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: FAQ
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Excellent point, but I don't think the differentiator is whether or not
they've worked in TV or film. Steve Martin is hilarious and has stage and
book credits of note - but Twain? MT utilized every medium of his day,
including pamphleteering and no doubt would have added radio, TV, film and
the Internet if available. To me, the most Twainian humorist around today
is Garrison Keillor, and not just because I'm from Minnesota. Let's give our
own award.
Jerry Vorpahl
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 15:14:00 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Michael MacBride <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain and the 'N' word - correction
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While I don't generally take much issue with the language in Twain, for many
of the reasons people have already mentioned, all the talk of the phrase
"nigger jim" really made me wonder where it originated?
The only place I can think of in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is in
Huck's note to Miss Watson. "Miss Watson your runaway nigger Jim is down
here..."
So, if it's not in Twain's work... where did it come from? People have
already mentioned Hemingway's famous quotation in his 1935 work. I dug
through the articles I've read and taken notes on, and only found a handful
that have this mention. And, none earlier than Hemingway. Could
Hemingway's missreading of Huck Finn lead to this phrase being attributed to
Twain? Or, maybe it comes from earlier drafts of the story?
*This attempts to pass blame to Albert Bigelow Paine:*
Dick Gregory gives the impression that, in HUCKLEBERRY FINN, Clemens
referred to the slave Jim as "Nigger Jim." *Clemens did not use the word as
a part of Jim's proper name. This misconception was popularized by Clemens's
biographer Albert Bigelow Paine who routinely referred to Jim as "Nigger
Jim."*
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/burnsmistakes.html (this one attempts to
clear it up)
*But, here are the ones I have handy:*
"His left hand sought the old familiar pantaloons pocket and stayed there,
while he leaned against the reading desk with his other arm on it, and
proceeded in his conversational, slow, nasal drawl. It was in the
Mississippi Valley. Huck Finn, a white boy, and Nigger Jim ran away from the
plantation and camped out, and they got to talking about kings one evening.
"
AND (from the same source)
"Nigger Jim had never thought of that before, and he proceeded to argue that
Solomon could not have been a wise man, because he would have had to build
himself a room of boiler iron and shut himself in occasionally, where he
could get a little rest."
Source: http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/huckfinn/twinsnyt.html (Claims to
be from The New York Sun dated: Nov 19, 1884)
Bellamy, Gladys Carmen. Mark Twain as a Literary Artist. Norman, OK.:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1950.
"The three figures, Tom, Huck, and Jim, represent the three gradations of
thought and three levels of civilization. Tom, pretending so intensely that
it becomes so, says we can't do it except as in the books. Is this what
civilization really is—merely a pretense according to a set pattern? Tom
is on the highest level, in the sense of being most civilized; but he
represents a mawkish, romantic, artificial civilization. Compared with him,
Nigger Jim and Huck are primitives; and the closer Mark Twain gets to
primitivism, the better his writing becomes." (339).
Shockley, Martin Staples. "The Structure of Huckleberry Finn." Ed. David
B. Kesterson. Critics on Mark Twain. Coral Gables, FL: University of Miami
Press, 1973: 70-81. Also quotes Bellamy: "Gladys Bellamy writes: "In spite
of its episodic nature, the book falls naturally into three thematic units.
In the first sixteen chapters the theme has to do with what is of and from
St. Petersburg: Huck, Tom, Nigger Jim, and pap. The second thematic unit
includes the most strongly satiric, the most powerful part of the book,
bringing Huck and Jim into contact with the outside world… The third
thematic unit is short, a sort of coda to the rest, covering the period at
the Phelps farm in which Tom reenters the story. This section repeats the
romanticized motif of the first Part and thus brings the book around
full-circle, before we close." Professor Bellamy then proceeds, following
Professor Floyd Stovall, to interpret Huckleberry Finn as "a satire on
institutionalism." (71).
*And then, here are a few I found with a quick google search:*
"Russell Baker wrote in the New York Times in 1982 -- "are drunkards,
murderers, bullies, swindlers, lynchers, thieves, liars, frauds, child
abusers, numskulls, hypocrites, windbags and traders in human flesh. All are
white. The one man of honor in this phantasmagoria is 'Nigger Jim,' as Twain
called him to emphasize the irony of a society in which the only true
gentleman was held beneath contempt."
Source: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/hentoff112999.asp
"Nancy Rawles' new novel *My Jim* is the story of Sadie Watson, the wife of
"Nigger Jim," as he was referred to in the Mark Twain classic *Huckleberry
Finn*. Jim was the escaped slave who took the journey down the Mississippi
(and into American literary history) with runaway Huck."
Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4519174
(sigh,
and I love NPR!)
Maybe that helps... or maybe it doesn't.
Michael
Minnesota State University, Mankato
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 18:33:44 -0400
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Peter Salwen <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain and the 'N' word - correction
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I was about to hang this whole thing on Paine, because after following this
correspondence for several days I finally did a quick CTRL-F through "MT: A
Biography," & turned up these six specimens:
"Long afterward he {Uncle Dan'l] would become Nigger Jim in the Tom Sawyer
and Huckleberry Finn tales. . . ."
"Sometimes at evening they swam across to Glasscock's Island-the rendezvous
of Tom Sawyer's "Black Avengers" and the hiding-place of Huck and Nigger Jim
. . . ."
"In the Huckleberry Finn book, during those nights and days with Huck and
Nigger Jim on the raft-whether in stormlit blackness, still noontide, or the
lifting mists of morning-we can fairly 'smell' the river . . . ."
"The tale of Huck and Nigger Jim drifting down the mighty river on a raft,
cross-secting the various primitive aspects of human existence, constitutes
one of the most impressive examples of picaresque fiction in any language."
"We never wish to feel that Huck is anything but a real character. We want
him always the Huck who was willing to go to hell if necessary, rather than
sacrifice Nigger Jim . . . ."
"Certainly Huck's loyalty to that lovely soul Nigger Jim was beautiful . . .
."
But Michael's citations, specifically the on that purports to be from the
New York Sun the year *before* HF was published, are very suggestive. We all
seem to agree that Mark Twain the *author* did not use the expression
"Nigger Jim" in the book. But maybe later on, when he had occasion (and
there must have been thousands) to refer to the book and discuss it and do
readings etc., maybe he did adopt the expression himself as a shorthand way
to get his listeners into the picture. If so, that of course would have set
the pattern for Paine's subsequent phrasing.
But either way, I would have to conclude that the Paine biography must have
been the mechanism that gave the phrase wide circulation.
BTW, I was intrigued to find that the word turns up only nine times in all
of *Tom Sawyer.*
Peter Salwen
========================================================================Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 18:24:20 +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: prejudice and the N word
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Dear Twainians:
I wasn't going to comment on this matter, but I have changed my mind.
When I was a girl of eight, I attended a parochial day school for the
blind. We were Integrated" for several of our classes with students
from a regular school, and thus attended school with sighted children.
We played together in the large schoolyard. One day, someone knocked me
down. I was privy at home to much negativity regarding "colored
people". "That had to be a colored person", I commented, to the girl
who assisted me and repeatedly inquired if I were hurt. "I am colored",
she replied, and I wanted to die. With no exaggeration, that incident
changed my opinion of blacks for the rest of my life, and I have
repeatedly stated to my parents that without hesitation, I'd marry an
African-American man and could not imagine why anyone would think
differently. What I am really saying here, is that if we are honest
with ourselves, all of us deal with prejudice to a certain degree, and
it would be ludicrous to pretend otherwise. I am certain that Twain was
no different, and am also certain that he fought internally with himself
as we all do. The NO word was used by Aunt Rachel about her own people
in "A true story. I hope that is the correct title correct, so I get
the impression that the word was used among black folks as well.
Forgive me for rambling on. I have been awake since 2:00 this morning
and am perhaps not making sense.
Camy, who loves this list."
========================================================================Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 14:30:16 +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 vulnerability
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Dear Group:
Having read two or three biographies,(though not nearly as much as many
of you), I am astounded at how Vulnerable Twain was. He was so easily
convinced to grossly misspend away a great deal of money on any number
of inventions including that nightmare of a typesetting machine, and
also,it infuriated me how Isabel Lyons so cruelly took advantage of him
and squandered his money. One would have thought that such a genius
would have known better, but poor Sam, that didn't seem to be the case.
lease tell me your opinion.
CAmy
========================================================================Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 23:57:53 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Hilton Obenzinger <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Hemingway and Twain
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Folks,
Hemingway, because of his comment in The Green Hills of Africa, has
popularized the usage of Nigger Jim. The use of "nigger" by Twain
was not meant to be derogatory -- except that racial subordination
was readily embodied in American English as a regular part of
language as well as practice. Twain was extraordinarily in touch
with the entire dynamic of white supremacy and black subordination --
in life and in language. In his writing it is always possible to see
both aspects.
Hemingway is another matter.
In fact, I have trouble with Hemingway's famous remark. It's an
absurd comment -- based on inaccurately remembering the book -- and
it has actually done more harm than good. Popularizing "Nigger Jim"
as a usage is only one part of it. I suggest that people read the
rest of the passage in which the narrator describes American
literature to an Austrian in the midst of Africa. The narrator
dismisses Melville (merely rhetoric), tosses off Thoreau (merely a
naturalist), and basically scatters absolute literary judgements to
the right and left. To praise Adventures of HF in this context --
and in the qualified way he does it: "The rest is just cheating" --
actually does more harm to Twain than good -- IF one takes these
literary judgements as the words of a great literary sage and not the
flawed narrator of a fictionalized travel book. But because it's
Hemingway -- also a great writer -- it's taken without irony. What
do other people think? Hemingway's famous opinion may not be a FAQ
but it is a frequently invoked insight.
Peter Salwen did the service of presenting the entire passage about
Twain. The rest of the literary assessment of American literature is
just 2 or 3 pages. I'll reprint what Peter copied here to keep the
passage fresh in people's minds. Meanwhile, dig out your copies of
The Green Hills of Africa:
"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called
Huckleberry Finn. If you read it you must stop where the Nigger Jim is
stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating. But
it's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There
was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since."
Hilton Obenzinger
Stanford University
========================================================================Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 23:43:00 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Sara Bader <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Help! with sourcing
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Hi, all
I'm trying hard to find original sources for the following three Mark
Twain quotes. If anyone knows where in his work these words originally
appeared, can you let me know?
"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother
me, it is the parts that I do understand."
-Mark Twain
"Sacred cows make the best hamburger."
-Mark Twain
"If there is a God, he is a malign thug."
-Mark Twain
Thank you!
Sara Bader
========================================================================Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 08:34:57 -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: Hemingway and Twain
It's been years since I've read any Hemingway, but I think that passage
about American literature was spoken by a pompous characater in the novel,
and were not the words of the narrator or EH himself. You'd have to read
the rest of the novel to get a sense of whether EH was speaking through that
character. Some (incl. me) might argue that was the case. And some not.
This is not unlike Twain's use of the word "nigger" --putting it in the
speech of particular characters or situations to reveal their attitudes or
reflect their social status -- not his own. Unlike with EH, I don't think
anyone can reasonably construct a case that Twain was expressing his own
racial views through his various characaters.
But EH was not Mark Twain, and I don't see no p'ints about EH that make him
better'n Mark Twain.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 10:16:17 -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: Hemingway and Twain
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A thought occurs to me--
Unless I'm mistaken, we all seem to assume that Hemingway's speaker means
that the book should end after the Duke and the King sell Jim and Huck has
his crisis of conscience.
But what if the speaker means a different moment entirely?
This recent series of postings has made me notice something I've never paid
much attention to before, especially Hilton Obenzinger's discussion of the
context of the quotation. As Peter Salwen points out and Hilton emphasizes,
the speaker says that the book should "stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen
from the BOYS. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating" (my
emphasis).
When Jim is sold down the river, Huck is alone: there are no "boys." Is
this what you meant, Hilton, when you said the comment is "based on
inaccurately remembering the book"?
But what if, rather than an inaccuracy, the comment actually refers to a
different scene? For at the end, when Tom has been shot and is unconscious
or delirious and Huck is terrified and ineffectual, Jim is stolen from both
"boys" by the lynch mob.
Jim's life is saved only by economic considerations (his owner might make
them pay) and the serendipitous recovery of Tom Sawyer, who reveals all.
Perhaps this is the "cheating"? Many have been disturbed by Tom's
revelation that Jim has been freed in Miss Watson's will. I can imagine
both Hemingway and his speaker being more satisfied with Jim's lynching as
the more realistic and logical outcome of the novel.
What do you think?
Sharon McCoy
========================================================================Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 13:24:01 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Hilton Obenzinger <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Bamboozled
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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"Bamboozled," although imperfect in some respects, is an astonishing
film. I've shown this film as part of a class on American humor and
satire. After readings on slave humor and minstrelsy, this film just
knocks out the students; it's devastating. It ties viewers into
knots -- there's so much sickness and yet the routines are so damn
entertaining! After all of this, we read Huckleberry Finn, and
there's no problem talking about the ways the novel parallels
minstrelsy and how it veers from it at the same time. Then Richard
Pryor stand-up comedy. Phew.
Hilton
========================================================================Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 15:09:16 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Hilton Obenzinger <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hemingway and Twain
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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I suppose that the very end of the story can be what the cheat
is. Most critics have interpreted Hemingway's remark as refering to
the entire "evasion" section. The "cheat" of the section after Jim
is recaptured would be even more baffling to me. I know many people
have quarreled with the evasion section, so I assume that Hemingway's
comment fits into that tradition.
Hilton
========================================================================Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 06:04:20 -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: Hemingway and Twain
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I think it might be seen as a "cheat" because everything seems to resolve so
neatly: Jim is freed, not only from his captors, but from slavery. Huck is
"freed" by Jim's revelation that pap is dead. And Huck's struggles with
social mores are "solved" by his resolution to "light out for the
territory." So all seems right with the world and all the issues raised by
the book seem resolved by a happy ending for all.
I'd argue that the ending is not really as resolved as it seems, but it does
seem to tie everything up in a neat little package, a resolution that feels
like cheating at first.
Sharon
========================================================================Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 13:34:22 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hemingway and Twain
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Dear Hilton (I wonder how anyone gets named after a hotel?)--I submit that
we may forgive Hemingway his point of view on other writers. He saw writing
as
competitive to a large degree, and did not truly realize his contribution,
much less others in perspective. Let's give the man his opinion--his
statement
in Green Hills of Africa neither put Huck Finn on the literary map or
changed the way we look at it.
Then too, we might always benefit from separating the man from his fiction.
David H Fears
========================================================================Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 20:30:37 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Bob Gill <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: TWAIN-L Digest - 10 Sep 2006 to 17 Sep 2006 (#2006-5)
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In "No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger" there's a scene where 44 appears in the
guise of a singer (I don't have access to my book at the moment, but I think
he may be a minstrel singer, specifically) strumming a banjo, and strongly
affects the narrator with a rendition of "Buffalo gal, won't you come out
tonight" or something similar. This might be the kind of thing you're
looking for.
Bob G.
========================================================================Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2006 11:36:50 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: John Davis <[log in to unmask]>
Organization: Chowan University
Subject: Re: TWAIN-L Digest - 10 Sep 2006 to 17 Sep 2006 (#2006-5)
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You are right about music in _No. 44_. "A Horse's Tale" includes a fair
amount of
music toward its end, such as "Reveille," "Assembly," "Taps," "Boots and
Saddles,"
"To the Standard," as well as "Soldier Boy's Bugle Call" (Soldier Boy is the
horse
narrator). What is interesting that Twain places the music staffs for the
songs within
the story. I'm not sure of his purpose, but it is an arresting narrative
experiment.
John H. Davis, Ph.D.
English Division
Chowan University
Murfreesboro, NC
========================================================================Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2006 13:27:54 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Steve Courtney <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Mark Twain and music
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The discussion of Twain & music reminded me of the following letter (from
the electronic edition of Mark Twain's letters, Copyright 2003 the Mark
Twain Project) in which Clemens tries to compose music vicariously.
It's to the musically inclined Rev. Edwin Pond Parker of South
Congregational Church in Hartford, the church the Clemenses reputedly
attended when Twichell was not preaching because the music was better. South
Church had a choir, while Asylum Hill carried on the traditional
Congregationalist practice of congregational singing. Parker, Twichell and
the Rev. Nathaniel Burton collaborated on a hymnal, but it was really
Parker's work, Twichell always maintained.
The poem Clemens wanted to set to music is a section of Tennyson's long poem
"The Princess." I've set the words down under the letter.
To Edwin Pond Parker
22? December 1880 -- Hartford, Conn.
Dear Dr. Parker --
I wish you would compose a certain piece of music. I have imagined it
all the morning -- that is, imagined I was listening to it -- but of course
it was all blended sounds, & not articulated, not organized. Theme: "The
Splendor falls on Castle walls, & snowy summits old in story."
I imagined a quartette of male voices (without accompaniment) singing,
down to "Blow, bugle, blow" (then a few notes from a bugle behind the
singers, or behind the scenes;) "Set the wild echoes flying!" (Bugle notes
repeated.) Then "answer, echoes" (the bugle notes softly imitated by a
concealed flute at the other end of the house, or in another room.) And so
on: "O hark, O hear! (flute) How thin & far (flute) from cliff & scar
(flute) the horns of Elfland fairly blowing!" (flute.)
Well it does look the very nation on paper, but it sounds well when it
is fading & receding in my mind's ear Horatio.
May be the song has already been set to music -- then it has been poorly
done & nobody sings it; so I wish you'd do it over again & do it right.
Won't you?
Truly yours,
S. L. Clemens
The splendor falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story;
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying. dying, dying.
O, hark, O, hear! how thin and clear,
And thinner, clearer, farther going!
O, sweet and far from cliff and scar
The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!
Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
O love, they die in yon rich sky,
They faint on hill or field or river;
Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow for ever and for ever.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.
Steve Courtney
Terryville, CT
========================================================================Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 11:54:45 +0200
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Niek Langeweg (werk)" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain Readings
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Tracy Wuster" <[log in to unmask]>
> I was wondering what people would suggest as the most important 10-15
> books
> on Mark Twain to read as part of a background on Twain.
I was wondering if your question has been answered off list. I am very
interested in the answers you received.
Would you share the information?
Thanks,
Niek Langeweg
========================================================================Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:10:10 -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: top 100 works about Mark Twain
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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I noticed nobody responded to that question. I believe it has come up
before, so check the archives.
I seem to recall at one point there was an article that listed the top 100
works about Mark Twain--it included reference, biography, special topics,
primary works, and so on. Does any LIST-member recall where that article
appeared? Maybe we could link it to the FORUM site and/or the proposed FAQ.
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University
========================================================================Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 17:57:23 -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: Two book reviewers needed
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The Mark Twain Forum needs reviewers for the following books:
_Printer's Devil: Mark Twain and the American Publishing Revolution_. By
Bruce Michelson. University of California Press, 2006, hardcover, xiii +
299 pages. $34.95. ISBN 978-0-520-24759-8.
The publisher's web page for this book is:
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10562.html
and
_Fetching the Old Southwest: Humorous Writing from Longstreet to Twain_. By
James H. Justus. University of Missouri Press, 2004, hardcover, xiii + 591
pages. $54.95. ISBN 0-8262-1544-0.
The publisher's web page for this book is:
http://www.umsystem.edu/upress/fall2004/justus.htm
Reviews are due within two months of your receipt of a book--around the
first of December. The deadline is particularly important. If you are
inclined to procrastinate, or will have difficulty meeting the deadline,
please do not offer to write a review.
If you're interested in receiving either of these books for review, please
contact me via email.
Thanks,
Barbara Schmidt
Book Review Editor, Mark Twain Forum
[log in to unmask]
========================================================================Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 18:52:38 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Mark Twain and music
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On the MT music front:
In my research for Mark Twain Day-By-Day, the annotated day-chronology (now
approaching 300 pages and midway into 1870), I have come across two items on
Sam and music that might interest.
First in Samuel Charles Webster's 1947 book, Mark Twain, Business Man, Annie
Moffett Webster, Sam's niece who lived until 1950, wrote a chapter in her
own words, "As His Niece Remembers Him." SC Webster was Annie's son.
Annie wrote this about her uncle:
When I think of Uncle Sam during those early years it is always as a singer.
He would sit at the piano and play and sing by the hour, the same song over
and over: --
There was an old horse
And his name was Jerusalem.
He went to Jerusalem,
He came from Jerusalem.
Ain't I glad I'm out of the wilderness! Oh! Bang!
He seems to have been flattered by my appreciation of this effort because he
began to call me "Old Horse." It was "Old Horse, get me that book" or "Old
Horse, run up to my room for a paper."
As I grew a little older it must have struck me that to be called "Old
Horse" even by Uncle Sam was not suitable. My cousin Jenny Clemens, Uncle
Orion's
daughter, who was visiting us, had also been insulted by our uncle. He had
taken to calling her "Trundle-bed Trash," a current term for the extra
children
who had to sleep in little trundle beds....
Another of Uncle Sam's songs which seems to have struck me as a classic to
be remembered was: --
Samuel Clemens! the gray dawn is breaking,
The howl of the housemaid is heard in the hall;
The cow from the back gate her exit is making,--
What, Sam Clemens? Slumbering still?
---
The other music item comes from 1869. Here is my entry from my WIP:
March 25th Thursday Sam wrote in Livy's copy of Autocrat
of the Breakfast-Table, Midnight March 25, 1869 I wish 'Even Me' to be sung
at my funeral.
The song was a hymn composed by William B. Bradbury in 1862. Sam claimed it
his favorite in a March 31st letter to Livy's sister.[1c, p184n9]
(The sister was the adopted Susan Crane.)
David H Fears
========================================================================Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2006 09:10:43 -0400
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Steve Courtney <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Poem of 1892
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I have a question about a poem or short piece Clemens apparently wrote and
sent to Twichell in 1892. Twichell refers to it in a letter of Nov. 3, 1892,
as "In Memoriam," but of course it is not the poem of that name that Clemens
wrote after Susy's death in 1896. In telling Clemens how moving he found it
to be, Twichell refers to the family group of Livy, the girls and "the
beloved Shadow in the midst."
Jane Lampton Clemens had died in 1890, so I was wondering whether Clemens
was writing about that loss -- though Twichell's placing of the "Shadow" in
the family group makes me wonder whether Clemens is harkening back to
Langdon's death. June 2, 1892, after all, was the twenty-year anniversary of
that sad event.
Is anyone familiar with this work?
Steve Courtney
Terryville, CT
========================================================================Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 08:48:41 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Michael MacBride <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: A correction to an old comment.
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Dear Forum,
I dug around in my email but couldn't find the original email. A few months
ago I remember there being a discussion about Thoreau or Emerson and I
mistakenly made a comment about Twain paying for a cabin for one of them. I
remember not being sure who it was and probably should have held my tongue
until I had a source to support my comment. In either case, I came across
the source while researching a completely unrelated matter (isn't it weird
how things come full circle some times?). It was not Thoreau or Emerson,
but Mr. Whitman.
"Twain contributed funds to help buy a horse and buggy for Whitman in 1885
and to pay for his cottage in Camden in 1888, saying, supposedly, 'What we
want to do is to make that splendid old soul comfortable.'" Source:
http://www.salwen.com/mtwhtman.html
I'm pretty sure the original place I read this was in Gribben's *
Reconstruction*, but since I don't own a copy (nor does the nearest library,
I have to Inter-library Loan it every time I want it) I offer this source as
a possibility. Perhaps it will help whoever was looking for a Twainian link
to transcendentalists? And, to the person who called me out on not having a
source to support my claim, I do apologize and have learned that lesson. :)
Michael
========================================================================Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:11:09 -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: Twain and the transcendentalists
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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And recall that MT met RWE personally on at least 3 occasions. Most
famously, Emerson was present for and one of the 3 lofty targets of Twain's
burlesque at the Whittier Birthday celebration in 1877.
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University
========================================================================Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 08:33:12 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Laura Trombley <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: An inquiry regarding a student's request
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Dear Forum,
I have a student who is very interested in writing about the literary images
(or stereotypes) Jews in Gilded Age literature. I can immediately think of
Rosedale in House of Mirth and would appreciate your thoughts regarding
additional characters in other novels.
Best,
Laura Trombley
========================================================================Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:10:33 -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 and the transcendentalists
Twain also met some real live Transcendentalists when he attended a meeting
of the Radical Club where evolution and transmigration of the soul were
discussed. After the meeting Twain commented that he must have inherited an
old well-used soul. His comments are quoted at length in Mrs John T
Sargent's SKETCHES AND REMINISCENCES OF THE RADICAL CLUB (Boston, 1880).
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:40:54 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Hilton Obenzinger <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: An inquiry regarding a student's request
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Oh, yes, of course: don't forget Twain's "Concerning the Jews."
HO
========================================================================Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 11:57:03 -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: Re: An inquiry regarding a student's request
Volume III (1876-1900) of Lyle Wright's "American Fiction" would be a place
to start looking. Tedious to do, but just sitting down and scanning the
titles and the brief notes under most of his entries might uncover some
untrodden ground. Since Wright lists every book of fiction (both novels and
short stories) by an American author of this period, you'd have great
coverage, but the weakness is that Wright doesn't provide very good notes
for anyone seeking themes, characters, or motifs, although he's so-so when
it comes to genres. Still, with Wright in one hand and a mouse pointed at
google in the other, you'd be ready to rumble. Maybe point that mouse at
vivisimo since they have very useful "clustered" search results perfectly
suited to this kind of enquiry
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:34:44 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Hilton Obenzinger <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: An inquiry regarding a student's request
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Try "Innocents Abroad," "Captain Stormfield," Melville's "Clarel,"
plus other Holy Land travel books, almost all of which describe
Jews. And, of course, your student should read "Three Vassar Girls
in the Holy Land" (I forget the author but she wrote a series of
"Three Vassar Girls in . . . "). One of the three girls is secretly
a Jew -- but they like her, and, after all, she doesn't smell too
bad. This book is a compendium of stereotypes of the time -- while
trying to be enlightened. It's a laugh riot. If you read the whole
series, you will probably get a wonderful survey of all sorts of
stereotypes.
I know that someone has written a survey of the image of Jews in
American literature -- I don't have the bibliographic information
handy -- and that book will give many examples. Also read Shelley
Fisher Fishkin's "Markt Twain and the Jews" in Arizona Quarterly 61.1
Spring 2005.
Hilton Obenzinger
========================================================================Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:57:34 -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: Lecky on Twain?
On page 203 of MARK TWAIN, Archibald Henderson says William Lecky pronounced
Mark Twain's accounts of slavery in HF and LonM as the truest ever written.
This is not surprising since Twain had read Lecky's views on slavery and
they had met, but does anyone happen to know what Henderson's (pre-1910)
source for this might be?
Of course, Lecky's influence on Twain and Twain's comments on Lecky have
been widely quoted and written about, but I'm looking for the source of
Lecky's published comments on Twain. Unless I've overlooked something, a
search of Henderson's appendix did not help, nothing in Tom Tenney's
REFERENCE GUIDE, no reviews of Twain's books by Lecky in Lou Budd's book, no
clues in Gribben's long notes on Lecky in MT's LIBRARY, nothing in
Baetzhold, Salomon, Blair, or others I've checked who've written on the
Twain-Lecky connection. I then cast a wider net into the indexes of various
volumes of letters, biographies, etc., and I'm beginning to bog down. The
prospect of having to read at least two of the books Lecky published between
1885 and 1910 is making my pointy little head hurt.
Any clues will be gratefully received, and anyone with the answer will
proably find themselves drinking hard liquor on my dime if they attend the
next Elmira Conference or ever visit Austin.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 14:04:38 -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: Lecky on Twain?
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Merely for the chance of drinking free hard liquor:
Isn't it possible that Henderson and Lecky met, or corresponded?
Dr. Harold K. Bush, Jr., Associate Professor
Saint Louis University
========================================================================Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 15:24:06 -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: Lecky on Twain?
W-e-e-e-e-e-e-ll, that's more a clue than a source, but a good possibility,
deserving of a beer if not the hard stuff. Henderson's text reads "Certain
passages in his books on the subject of slavery, as the historian Lecky has
declared, are the truest things that have ever been expressed on the subject
which vexed a continent and plunged a nation in bloody, fratricidal strife."
Henderson himself (not Lecky, as I'd implied --sorry) then goes on to cite
HF and LonM as having particularly vivid examples of what he's talking
about. I may be reading him wrong, but the way Henderson puts it seems to
indicate he assumes his readers will be familiar with Lecky's opinion, or at
least that it had been stated in public or in print.
I was initially confident the source was buried in H's appendix (an
excellent bibliography by 1910 standards), but Lecky's name does not appear
under any of those entries. Henderson had interviewed Twain at length while
preparing this book, and I've wondered if perhaps Twain showed H some letter
to T from Lecky (none in Machlis), or even if H perhaps discussed with Twain
his (T's) readings of Lecky and then later on garbled his (H's) notes of
that conversation.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
========================================================================Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 15:05:26 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Paul Reuben <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: An inquiry regarding a student's request
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You may want to suggest my selected bibliography on Jewish-American Studies
at
http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/append/jews.html
A number of titles deal with the late 19th early 20th c. American fiction.
Best,
- - -
Paul P. Reuben
http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/home.htm
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 15:05:26 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Paul Reuben <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: An inquiry regarding a student's request
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You may want to suggest my selected bibliography on Jewish-American Studies
at
http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/append/jews.html
A number of titles deal with the late 19th early 20th c. American fiction.
Best,
- - -
Paul P. Reuben
http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/home.htm
========================================================================Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2006 13:44:26 EDT
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: David H Fears <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: When & Where did Sam meet Thomas Nast?
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In my WIP, Mark Twain Day By Day, I have this entry, based upon Sam's
letter
10 years after they supposedly met. My question is, since the Quaker City
arrived in NY on November 19th at 10AM, and with Sam leaving for
Washington,
probably on a night train on the 21st (MTL vol 2,p109n2)--there is only a
two
day window they could have met, unless Nast was in Washington DC, where Sam
went to work for Senator Stewart briefly. If the following entry is
inaccurate,
and/or if you have a source for the date and place of their meeting, I'd
appreciate it.
November 19th or 20th Wednesday - After the Quaker City returned and
before
Sam left for Washington, he met Thomas Nast, famous illustrator and
cartoonist, who proposed a lecture tour with him drawing and Sam speaking:
Therefore I now propose to you what you proposed to me in November, 1867 -
ten years ago, (when I was unknown,) viz.: That you should stand on the
platform and make pictures, and I stand by you and blackguard the audience.
I
should enormously enjoy meandering around (to big towns - don't want to go
to
little ones) with you for company. [12 Nov 77 to Nast in MTL, 1:311]
In searching for this piece of information, I discovered that Albert Paine
had worked on a Nast biography prior to Twain's. From Paine:
It was more than three years before I saw him again. Meantime, a sort of
acquaintance had progressed. I had been engaged in writing the life of
Thomas
Nast, the cartoonist, and I had found among the material a number of
letters to
Nast from Mark Twain. I was naturally anxious to use those fine
characteristic letters, and I wrote him for his consent. He wished to see
the letters,
and the permission that followed was kindness itself. His admiration of
Nast
was very great. [MTbio]
Albert B. Paine, Thomas Nast, His Period and His Pictures (1981). This is
reprinted from a 1904 MacMillan edition.
I don't have this book, but perhaps the answer is in it. What do you have?
Albert B. Paine, Thomas Nast, His Period and His Pictures (1981).
David H Fears
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David,
I suggest before you narrow down the meeting between Twain and
Nast to two days in 1867 based on Twain's memory ten years later
that you consider Twain's news story that appeared
in the _Territorial Enterprise_ on February 27, 1868 datelined
Washington, January 30, 1868. Twain writes:
"They treat us houseless strangers well in the East. Thomas Nast, the
clever artist of Harper's Weekly is exhibiting a collection of great
caricatures of national subjects in New York and wants me to do the
lecturing for his show. I would, if I hadn't so many irons in the fire. I
would like it right well for a change, but then changes are risky. I must
hunt around for a handsome Pacific coaster to take the berth - because I
suppose it is personal loveliness Nast is after."
(http://www.twainquotes.com/18680227t.html)
If you check the online Union Catalog of Letters to Clemens at:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/MTP/twcorr.html
you will see that Twain was back in New York in January of 1868
and could have met Nast then. If you rely strictly on Twain's
memory without other supporting evidence, you may get thrown
off track from time to time.
Barb