I can see how the way that I said that could come off as disrespectful, and I apologize for that. I think that Kevin is one of the most knowledgeable and gracious Twain people I've ever come into contact with, but I have just not been able to bring myself to read the article. I do not question why a fat guy is called slim, just like I do not question why Sam Clemens is called Mark Twain--it's obvious. I'm as stubborn as a Missouri mule--and for that,again, I am sorry. Dustin Zima Elmira College On Mon, Jan 26, 2015 at 1:47 PM, Kevin Mac Donnell < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > "an obscure book that he may have read"?? > > Clearly, you have not read my article. It was not a book and not obscure. > Vanity Fair was the most popular and widely distributed humor journal of > its > day. It was edited by Artemus Ward and Charles J. Leland, both of whom > became good friends of Mark Twain, not to mention many of its contributors. > It was also one of the two major journals that published Bohemian authors; > the other was the Saturday Press, in which Twain's jumping frog story > gained > national fame. To imagine that Twain was not familiar with Vanity Fair > (which was being copied in Virginia City newspapers and sold off Virginia > City newsstands even before Twain arrived there) but that he was at the > same > time very familiar with several minor humor magazines and was being > influenced by Ward's writings that appeared in Vanity Fair is absurd. I > have > a modest proposal: read my article. > > 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: Dustin Zima > Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2015 4:06 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Connection between Twain and Lincoln > > I think we are paddling into the similarly muddy waters of Sam taking > his name from an obscure book that he may have read. There seems to > be a lot of this going on in Twain scholarship--scholarship in > general, really. > > Dustin Zima > Elmira College > > On 1/25/15, Arianne <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > It would be interesting to learn if there was a book on Lincoln in Mark > > TWain's library. Wouldn't surprise me to learn that Mark Twain indeed > > read > > the account Lincoln wrote of a raft trip down the river. If so, it > surely > > could be an influence. I'd love to read the Lincoln story. > > > > Appreciate the Kaplan comments, too! > > Arianne > > > > On Sun, Jan 25, 2015 at 6:04 AM, Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > >> For the record, the assertions in that article are extremely tenuous at > >> best. It's always fun to speculate but there is evidently, in this > case, > >> no real evidence to support that Lincoln's stories are behind Huck Finn. > >> If I missed the evidence please enlighten me. > >> > >> As far as somewhat less specific connections between AL & MT, now that > is > >> an interesting question. Twain wrote about Lincoln on at least 2 > >> occasions > >> and also gave at least one speech about Lincoln, for example. I tried > to > >> imagine the implications of that connection myself, in some of my work; > >> I > >> figure them both, in Twain's words, as "men of the border," a phrase I > >> like > >> a lot. But maybe my favorite formulation is by Fred Kaplan: "Just as > >> Howells has called Twain the Lincoln of our literature," Kaplan writes, > >> "I > >> could envision Lincoln as the Twain of our politics." I like that!! > >> > >> On Sun, Jan 25, 2015 at 7:18 AM, Dave Davis <[log in to unmask] > > > >> wrote: > >> > >> > That's pretty interesting. First I'd ever heard of this Vote Lincoln! > >> book. > >> > > >> > SLC's (unpaid; maybe room & board, at best?) berth out West came > >> > through > >> > Orion. I don't know how big brother was selected for his post-- he > must > >> > have had some connection to the territorial governor, James Nye? (Nye > >> was, > >> > of course, a Lincoln appointee.) > >> > > >> > DDD > >> > > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> Prof. Harold K. Bush > >> Professor of English > >> 3800 Lindell > >> Saint Louis University > >> St. Louis, MO 63108 > >> 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) > >> <www.slu.edu/x23809.xml> > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > Arianne Laidlaw A '58 > > >