Of course, the name "Greeley" must have had some comic associations out in the territories, thanks to the oft-repeated Hank Monk story. *_________________________________* *Peter Salwen /* salwen.com *114 W 86, NYC 10024 | 917-620-5371 <(917)%20620-5371>* On Sun, Jan 8, 2017 at 1:37 PM, Jim Leonard <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Bob-- Thanks for this--a great job of piecing the fragments together. > --Ji= > m L. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Robert H. > HIR= > ST > Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2017 3:00 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Reopening the Jim Smiley question > > No, no references to Greeley in the notebook. But when Bret Harte > reprinted= > the story in the Californian, less than a month after it appeared in the > S= > aturday Press, "Smiley" was replaced throughout with "Greeley." Mark Twain > = > seems to have revised the printer's copy for this reprint (it included > some= > changes only he could have made) but he certainly did not read proof for > i= > t, since it contained many errors as well as Greeley throughout. If > there's= > any truth in his recollection for the Adelaide Register ("That's a > fact") it seems likely that it was Harte's Californian printers who ran > out= > "S's" (*not* "G"s) and made the change to Greeley. We know that because > wh= > en Mark Twain used a clipping of the Californian reprint to reprint the > sto= > ry in his Jumping Frog book (1867), he demonstrably changed all the > Greeley= > 's back to Smiley (see Early Tales & Sketches, volume 1, pp. 528-33, which > = > show facsimiles of the clippings with his holograph changes). In 1981 I > was= > inclined to think that Mark Twain must have made the change to Greeley > but= > changed his mind a few months later (see Early Tales & Sketches, volume > 2,= > p.668). But thirty-five years later it seems more likely that the > printers= > made the change to Greeley (possibly for the reason he recalled in 1895, > t= > hough getting the change backward), and that > *he* reversed the printers' change when preparing the Jumping Frog > printer'= > s copy. So Mark Twain didn't always remember the things that didn't > happen.= > His memory was pretty good at aged 60, and it's easy to appreciate how > eas= > ily little mistakes like reversing the change (Greeley to Smiley instead > of= > Smiley to Greeley) can make the memory of real events seem like fiction, > w= > hen they are in fact just slightly skewed, factual memories. I doubt that > h= > elps very much with the question of whether Smiley/Greeley was a real > perso= > n, but if he was, it would not be the first or the last time Mark Twain > bas= > ed one of his characters on someone real. > > Bob Hirst > > On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 10:51 AM, Jim Leonard <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > A nice tidbit for the Adelaide reviewer, but evidently not heavy on=20 > > accurate facts. According to the U of C edition of Twain's notebooks > (vo= > l. > > 1), a pertinent notebook entry records, "Wrote this story for Artemus=20 > > [Ward]--his idiot publisher, Carleton gave it to [Henry] Clapp's=20 > > Saturday Press [not the Saturday Gazette]" (p. 80). The Saturday=20 > > Press did cease publication in 1866, but Twain's 1865 sketch=20 > > apparently wasn't in the last issue. And the jumping frog, far from > kill= > ing it, was a great success. > > Also, Twain refers to the Smiley character in early notes as=20 > > "Coleman," but there are no references (so far as I know) to=20 > > "Greeley." As we know, Twain cared a lot more about telling a good=20 > > story than sticking to the sort of dreary facts I'm offering here. By=20 > > the way, Twain's 1894 "Private History of the 'Jumping Frog' Story"=20 > > relates a version of the story's composition that combines elements of=20 > > the notebook entries with the "snapper" (killing the Press/Gazette) that > = > he would again use for the Adelaide reviewer the > > following year. --Jim L. > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Clay=20 > > Shannon > > Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2017 11:39 AM > > To: [log in to unmask] > > Subject: Reopening the Jim Smiley question > > > > We discussed whether Jim Smiley was a real person; note this from=20 > > twainqout=3D es=3DC2=3DA0Mark Twain quotations - Jumping Frog > > =3D20 > > | =3D20 > > | | =3D20 > > Mark Twain quotations - Jumping Frog > > | | > > > > | > > > > =3D20 > > > > He was a real character, and his name was Greeley. The way he got the=20 > > name =3D of Smiley was this -- I wrote the story for the=3DC2=3DA0New > Yor= > k=20 > > Saturday Gaze=3D tte, a perishing weekly so-called literary newspaper --= > =20 > > a home of poverty; =3D it was the last number -- the jumping frog killed= > =20 > > it. They had not enough "=3D G's", so they changed Greeley's name to=20 > > "Smiley." That's a fact. > > - "Mark Twain Put to the Question" interview, Adelaide=3DC2=3DA0South=20 > > Australia=3D n Register, 10/14/1895 > > =3DC2=3DA0- B. Clay Shannon > > >