Someone - possibly you Kevin, considering your collection - mentioned that profits were in the neighborhood of $10,000. By itself, the number sounds like success. But over 20-30 years, maybe not so much. Is that a verifiable number? Sent from my iPhone > On Nov 13, 2017, at 9:23 PM, Kevin Mac Donnell <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > The Mark Twain Scrapbook is nicely written up in a book on scrapbooking that > I reviewed in the Forum a few years ago. As claimed in the advertisements, > it was a clear improvement over the practice of having to apply your own > paste. That could get messy. I have over 50 examples--all different cover > designs and sizes--and this includes some unused ones. The pages do often > stick together, but this should not comes as a surprise for a book kept over > 100 years in a barn, house, or attic without the benefit of humidity and > temperature control. I'd get a bit sticky myself, probably within days. But > I have many more examples whose pages have not stuck together, and the glue > is remarkably stable. The glue used in some self-adhesive photo albums of > the 1970s is notoriously unstable and often reacts very badly and destroys > whatever is stuck in the album. Not so with the Mark Twain Scrapbooks. > > The thing was a success and was produced from 1877 to at least 1901 (the > date of the last catalogue I have listing them). > > 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: Martin Zehr > Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2017 12:46 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Mark Twain Scrapbook > > Mark Twain scrapbooks are not in the rare category of Twain collectibles, > as far as I can determine, and Kevin Mac Donnell can attest. They come in a > variety of covers and sizes, with the "Mark Twain" trademark prominently > displayed inside the front cover. They come up on ebay once in awhile and > I've purchased three over the years, none which were expensive. They were > available from the 1870s into the 20th century. The examples I have were > used and are interesting artifacts to peruse, the owners inserting news > items, bad poetry and personal items. An unused example would undoubtedly > be more expensive, but undoubtedly less interesting. > Martin Zehr > > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon> > Virus-free. > www.avast.com > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link> > <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> > >> On Sat, Nov 11, 2017 at 3:17 AM, Arianne . <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> Thank y ou so much. One of his scrapbooks plays a large part in >> my interest in Twain. I've never checked, but I wonder if any blank >> ones ever come up for sale. I imagine plenty of used ones might. I >> assume the collection of scrapbooks held by the Mark Twain Project >> in Berkeley contain examples of scrapbooks the family created before >> the patent and some they made after. >> >> THANKS! >> Arianne Laidlaw >> >> On Fri, Nov 10, 2017 at 11:38 AM, Robert M Ellsworth <[log in to unmask]> >> wrote: >> >>> Here is a direct link to the Google Patents page for the =91Improvements >> = >>> in Scrap-books=92 patent, from which you can download a PDF copy if the >>> = >>> online documentation is too hard to read (as it very often is!) >>> >>> https://www.google.com/patents/US140245 >>> >>> The idea is rather interesting: he covers the whole page with = >>> water-soluble glue or mucilage, and a user moistens just the area where >>> = >>> something is to go, presumably most easily with a small brush or blot of >> = >>> paper. Contemporary ads appear to show something between the treated = >>> gummed pages, perhaps material to which the gum left exposed between = >>> pasted items won=92t self-stick in humid locations. Presumably there is >> = >>> some care to provide =91adhesive=92 that will not stick until desired, = >>> perhaps dusting with (dyed) cornstarch or similar material to form what >>> = >>> parents with diapered children might know as =91a barrier layer=92. >>> >>> The accounts I=92ve read say that he made ample profit from this = >>> invention, and my guess is that the name recognition was a large part of >> = >>> the attractiveness. Perhaps it would still be, if anyone decided to = >>> =93re-introduce=94 these with modern materials =85 I can think of a few >>> = >>> improvements just looking at the patent drawings.= >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> Arianne Laidlaw A '58 >>