Not an answer to Gretchen's query but some (poetic) connections might perhaps be imagined by looking at the report of the talk on Lincoln by the (in my view) brilliant American Studies and Art History scholar, Alex Nemerov, at http://theartblog.org/2009/06/history-by-seers-and-journalists-talks-by-alexander-nemerov-and-simon-schama/ <https://owa.nottingham.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://theartblog.org/2009/06/history-by-seers-and-journalists-talks-by-alexander-nemerov-and-simon-schama/> ________________________________ From: Mark Twain Forum on behalf of [log in to unmask] Sent: Mon 02/08/2010 2:22 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Lincoln = the MT of our politics? He makes the geographical connection himself; see Barb Schmidt's entry on it from the NYTimes in 1907: _http://twainquotes.com/19070113.html_ (http://twainquotes.com/19070113.html) Roger Durrett In a message dated 8/2/2010 9:14:34 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, dbrid4 [log in to unmask] writes: I have asked this previously, 3 or 4 years ago, but does anyone know of any comments Twain or SLC had about Lincoln? Given that they lived only 100 miles apart when Sam was in Hannibal and that Twain commented on everyone else who was anyone (or no one) it is hard to find anything that Twain said about the giant of the prairie. I find that to be very curious, almost inexplicable, given their proximities and their comparable positions in American history and culture. ________________________________ From: Gretchen Sharlow <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Fri, July 30, 2010 11:12:58 AM Subject: Re: Lincoln = the MT of our politics? Hi Hal and Folks, The answer to question 1 is - Yes, see Fred Kaplan's Lincoln: The Biography of A Writer. It's an excellent summer read! Enjoy, Gretchen Sharlow ---- Harold Bush <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Folks, as you all know, it was WDH who called our beloved MT the "Lincoln of > our literature." > > What I am wondering is the extent to which it may be plausible to turn that > around, and talk about Lincoln as the "Mark Twain of our politics." > > First, does anyone know of any writing or criticism that makes that > connection? > > Second, does anyone have any response or corroboration for such a concept? > > happy waning summer days... > > -- > Harold K. Bush, Ph.D > Professor of English > Saint Louis University > St. Louis, MO 63108 > 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) > <www.slu.edu/x23809.xml> This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your computer system: you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation.