Just for fun, Mark's monthly $250 probably was in gold dollars at $20 an ounce, which today at $1,500 an ounce comes to $225,000 a year. On Aug 8, 2013, at 6:32 PM, Andrew Dickson <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > just did the math, and mark twain had an $82,000/year salary as a steamboat > captain, adjusting inflation rates of $250~/month (which translates to > $6,800~/month) > > > On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 5:42 PM, Kevin Mac Donnell < > [log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> Yes, I dropped a bombshell at the Elmira Conference, but I could only cover >> the bare outlines of my article in my 15 minute paper, so I strongly urge >> anyone interested to read the much longer and documented article on the >> subject in the Mark Twain Journal. In fact, I urge everyone to subscribe to >> the MTJ. I'm not sure how soon volume 50 will be available for sale as a >> back issue, but that's also possible at some point. However, if you >> subscribe you'll be the first on your block to read my next bombshell in an >> upcoming issue of MTJ (I'm not kidding, and I'm not out of bombshells just >> yet). >> >> In a nutshell, while looking for something else in Google Books in >> 2005-6-7, >> I found a use of the name "Mark Twain" used as a proper name in a burlesque >> sketch in a comic journal in 1861 that was edited by a prominent Phunny >> Phellow. This burlesque piece made fun of southern mariners by giving them >> names made up from insulting nautical terms, whose meanings I explain in my >> article. It's a comic journal already known to have been read by Twain, and >> an Artemus Ward piece in that very same issue of this journal has >> previously >> been cited as a piece familiar to Twain, so it's hard to imagine that Twain >> did not turn two more pages in that issue and notice "Mark Twain" in the >> little burlesque sketch I found. I confided my discovery to a colleague who >> agreed to keep it under his hat. But in 2012 I was offered a copy of this >> comic journal by a bookseller who cited the burlesque piece with "Mark >> Twain" and I knew my secret was out. I assume my colleague let the secret >> slip while trying to help me in my research, but it's possible somebody >> else >> became aware of the same piece on their own. But the bookseller offering me >> the journal for sale said they could not recall how they'd heard of it, so >> I'm doubtful. Anyway, it was time to go into print with what I had, a >> little >> sooner than I had planned. >> >> Now, back to 1861... Twain was not in the market for a nom de plume at that >> point in his life, whether he read this journal in 1861 or not. He was a >> highly paid ($250/mo) successful steamboat pilot and had no body of writngs >> to call his own, and no intention of becoming an author at that moment in >> his life. But the war came and ended his chosen career. He was soon off to >> Nevada, and by 1863, when he visited Carson City, he was indeed a writer >> and >> had a body of work and needed a nom de plume. He abruptly adopted the name >> "Mark Twain" while in Carson City in Feb 1863 and ten years later when >> asked >> about it he claimed to have gotten it from Capt Sellers who he said had >> recently died and had used the name "Mark Twain" before him. This has been >> proven factually false. Sellers was not yet dead in Feb, 1863 and no piece >> by Sellers (or anyone else) has ever been found signed "Mark Twain" before >> Twain's use in Feb 1863. In my article I go into some detail to explain how >> the newspaper exchange system worked and which CA and NV newspapers were >> exchanging with this comic journal where this piece had appeared, and which >> papers would have had files of that journal sitting on their office shelves >> in Nevada in Feb., 1863 where Twain would have found them. Whetehr or not >> he >> saw it in 1861, I think he certainly saw it in 1863, and I explain why >> Twain >> would have made up the Sellers story to hide the true source of his nom de >> plume, how he began asserting his brand both in the literary and commercial >> marketplaces, and how he was deliberately changing his style of humor away >> from the Phunny Phellow style, and how this explains why he used the >> Sellers >> story to connect his nom de plume with the Mississippi River instead of the >> actual context in which the name was first used in that comic journal in >> 1861 (as a nautical term used by ocean-going sailing vessels to merely >> indicate shallow water --a mere two fathoms or 12 feet--keep in mind that >> ocean-going vessels of that day drafted 15 to 25 feet, while flat-bottomed >> Mississippi steamboats drafted just 6-8 feet). So, the Mark Twain who >> appeared as a character in that 1861 burlesque piece was merely a shallow >> fool; Twain wanted to connect his nom de plume to the Mississippi River >> that >> was central to his life and writings, where it has dual meanings (safe or >> dangerous water, depending on your direction of travel from shallow or >> deeper waters). I make the case that he saw this burlesque in 1863 in >> Carson >> City in a newspaper exchange file (or one of several other likely places) >> and that this suggested the possibilities to him, triggering his sudden >> decision to adopt his nom de plume. The real importance of all of this is >> that it demonstrates that Twain was more aware of the meanings and >> usefulness of his nom de plume, and more conscious of his public image and >> brand than we might have thought, and was motivated to adopt a good nom de >> plume to increase his value as an author being reprinted in the exchange >> system, and was willing to engage in creating his own mythology. Nothing >> wrong with any of this, and I admire his smarts. >> >> This is probably a terrible summary of my article, and if I take the time >> to >> reread what I've written in this posting I'll end up scratching around on >> it >> until I've written my entire article all over again, so I'll stop here. >> I've >> been a little vague on the details on purpose, hoping that the curious will >> consider themselves sufficiently teased into springing for a few bucks and >> supporting the MTJ with a subscription or at least a back issue request. I >> don't get a dime out of any of this, but the MTJ is very close to finally >> being caught up and deserves all the support anyone has to offer. Did I >> mention that volume 50, the issue in which my article appears, is full of >> purdy pichers of things that illustrate my article, including some things >> nobody has seen before? Well, I just did. >> >> Kevin >> @ >> Mac Donnell Rare Books >> 9307 Glenlake Drive >> Austin TX 78730 >> 512-345-4139 >> Member: ABAA, ILAB >> ************************* >> You may browse our books at >> www.macdonnellrarebooks.com >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Arianne" <[log in to unmask]> >> To: <[log in to unmask]> >> Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2013 1:53 PM >> Subject: Kevin's Discovery? >> >> >>> Is there any chance we'll get any part of the revelation here? I'm >>> profoundly interested in this subject. Another take on the source >>> of TWAIN! >>> >>> -- >>> Arianne Laidlaw >>> >>> >>> >>> ----- >>> No virus found in this message. >>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >>> Version: 2013.0.3392 / Virus Database: 3209/6559 - Release Date: 08/08/13 >>> >> >> >> >> ----- >> No virus found in this message. >> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >> Version: 2013.0.3392 / Virus Database: 3209/6559 - Release Date: 08/08/13 >>