I did work out some of this story, with the help of Barb and Kevin, awhile back. Short answer is there are no known recordings, but if anyone finds a Bettlini cylinder of singer Nellie Melba you'll hear Mark Twain at the end of it. More to come. ~+~+~+~+~ Mr. A. B. Effgen Research Associate Research Systems and Funding Information Office of Sponsored Programs (CRC) Boston University 25 Buick Street Boston, MA 02215 ph: (617) 353-4365 fax: (617) 353-6660 On Nov 29, 2011, at 7:39 PM, "Harold Bush" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi Sue, those Edison recording were destroyed in a fire, and as far as is > known, no verified recordings of MT have survived. > > I would add that Yale does have one recording, believed to be William > Gillette (I think), who was an impersonator who know Twain personally and > was supposedly quite accurate in his mimicry. There must be others of him, > which I would liken to someone like Rich Little doing Johnny Carson. i.e. > pretty accurate. It is plausible that it is not Gillette, and in fact MT > himself; I remember hearing that from someone in the Beinecke at Yale many > years back. They just had no way of knowing. My guess = it is also > plausible that somehwere out there, somehow, a recording of MT may exist, > like that old manuscript of Huck Finn.... > > I also vaguely recall having a discussion on this LIST long ago, and I'd > love to hear other views. > > --Hal B. > > > > On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 5:42 PM, Harris, Susan Kumin <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> Today a colleague asked me if there were any extant recordings of Twain's >> v= >> oice, and I realized that I have a memory of someone talking about an >> Ediso= >> n recording--but also that it may have been destroyed. Can someone set me >> = >> straight on this? >> >> >> >> Thank you! --susan harris >> > -- > 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>