I ordered it on Amazon a few weeks ago and was told it would be delivered in early May . --susan harris Susan K. Harris ________________________________________ From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Taylor Roberts <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, May 1, 2019 8:05 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: BOOK REVIEW: _Mark Twain's Literary Resources, Vol. 1_, Gribben Thank you for a great review, Kevin! I especially love the last sentence! I echo Hal's query about when this will ship as I was going to drop a hint to my family about Father's Day approaching, but am not sure I want to wait that long if I don't have to. :) Thank you, Taylor On Wed, May 1, 2019 at 7:57 AM Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > thanks for this, Barb & Kevin. Long-awaited, indeed!! -- and kudos to > Alan as well. > > > point of inquiry: I ordered the volume for our library earlier this > spring and so far the book is not out -- anyone know when copies are > expected to ship?? > > > One reason being; I'd like to have a look at it as I finish up a revision > of an essay due at the publisher by June 1!! > > > nota bene: thanks Kevin for the citation: _Collecting, Curating, and > Researching Writers' > Libraries_ (2014), a collection of essays and interviews edited by Richard > Oram and Joseph Nicholson; will check it out! > > > > > > Dr. Hal Bush > > Dept. of English > > Saint Louis University > > [log in to unmask] > > 314-977-3616 > > https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhalbush.com&data=02%7C01%7Cskh5%40KU.EDU%7C978c2c1cd94a4a947c2b08d6ce3705af%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C636923133048719987&sdata=%2FFjJUJ10GDhd0cHrgDkSKF6zXjZNjtmAl8BA3VgisjE%3D&reserved=0 > > author website: halbush.com > > ________________________________ > From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Barbara Schmidt < > [log in to unmask]> > Sent: Wednesday, May 1, 2019 6:15:49 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: BOOK REVIEW: _Mark Twain's Literary Resources, Vol. 1_, Gribben > > BOOK REVIEW > > The following review was written for the Mark Twain Forum by Kevin Mac > Donnell. > > ~~~~~ > > Many books reviewed on the Forum are available at discounted prices from > the TwainWeb Bookstore, and purchases from this site generate commissions > that benefit the Mark Twain Project. Please visit < > https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.proofpoint.com%2Fv2%2Furl%3Fu%3Dhttp-3A__www.twainweb.net%26d%3DDwIBaQ%26c%3DPk_HpaIpE_jAoEC9PLIWoQ%26r%3Df7i-Uq4rMQU8-TBe45qVLg%26m%3DCScIF-fpdJhLdMwlNOqc5C-sugybdtUz1q9inr-ZSxE%26s%3DQ63QS6vSEsx0z0oLJFK8TD_s1JUBvrBf6BmQmR_xDBg%26e&data=02%7C01%7Cskh5%40KU.EDU%7C978c2c1cd94a4a947c2b08d6ce3705af%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C636923133048719987&sdata=vLzOmHr9Vn0%2Bozp739XLJ48J9W7OdFhbym4%2FUYhfgpc%3D&reserved=0= > >. > > Reviewed for the Mark Twain Forum by: > Kevin Mac Donnell > > Copyright (c) 2019 Mark Twain Forum. This review may not be published or > redistributed in any medium without permission. > > > _Mark Twain's Literary Resources: A Reconstruction of His Library and > Reading. Volume 1._ By Alan Gribben. NewSouth, 2019. Pp. 350. $60.00. ISBN > 978-1-58838-343-3 (cloth). ISBN 978-1-60306-453-8 (ebook). > > > Anyone familiar with Twain studies of the last four decades knows that the > most eagerly anticipated work in the field is the revised and enlarged > edition of Alan Gribben's _Mark Twain's Library: A Reconstruction_ (1980). > The first edition itself was eagerly anticipated: Six years before it > appeared, Hamlin Hill's famous must-read essay "Who Killed Mark Twain?" > appeared in _American Literary Realism_, where Hill predicted that "source > and influence hunters will have a field-day tracking through its > encyclopedic catalog of volumes the humorist owned and annotated." > Published in an edition of 500 copies, nearly all were sold to libraries > and the book quickly went out of print, driving the price for used copies > as high as $450, putting it out of the reach of most Twainians. This was > especially unfortunate because the immense utility of the work--the result > of its ingenious conception and meticulous execution--had advanced the > direction and scope of Twain studies more than any other work published > since. It may be counted as one of the handful of essential reference works > on Twain, along with Paine's (albeit flawed) biography of Twain, the Mark > Twain Project editions of Twain's _Letters_ and _Autobiography_, and R. > Kent Rasmussen's _Mark Twain A to Z_. > > The first of the three volumes of the new edition has now been published; > the second and third volumes will appear later this year and in 2020, and > will be reviewed separately as they are published. Those second and third > volumes will contain the catalogue of the books Twain actually owned or > read, describing their editions, annotations, and ownership markings, and > their influence on Twain's writings. This first volume sets the stage for > the two volumes to follow, and _must_ be read first in order to fully > understand Twain's library, how he used it, and how best to apply that > knowledge to any study of his creative process. > > This first volume gathers together twenty-five of Alan Gribben's essays > about the formation, influence, and dispersal of Mark Twain's library, > along with a new introduction by Gribben, a foreword by R. Kent Rasmussen, > and an expanded Critical Bibliography that nicely captures the crowded > shelf of studies based upon Twain's readings. The critical bibliography > begins with Paine's 1912 biography which foolishly projected Twain's > "reading interests during his final four years onto other periods of his > life . . ." (269). The critical bibliography even includes a 1924 master's > thesis that was the earliest guide to Twain's reading. > > Gribben's essays, published over the last forty-seven years tell one > fascinating tale after another. He describes Twain's "Library of Literary > Hogwash" which consisted of books so bad that they were relished by Twain > as "_exquisitely_ bad." He describes Twain's uncanny ability to read sense > into Robert Browning's dense poetry, the evocative story behind Susy > Clemens's set of Shakespeare, Tom Sawyer's (and America's) falling under > the spell of romantic adventure stories, the literary knowledge on display > in _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, Twain's favorite books, Twain's > earliest literary exposures, the popular myth of Twain as an unlettered > author and how Twain himself promoted that public illusion, Twain's > familiarity with the Arthurian legends, Twain's debt to "boy's books" when > composing his own greatest works, the ways certain books influenced > particular writings by Twain, and how Twain's reading habits and tastes > evolved over time. Written during five decades, these accounts > interconnect, and they are all page-turners, especially when Gribben > describes his adventures in tracking down Twain's widely dispersed library. > He tracks down nearly 100 books from Twain's library that had been given to > Katy Leary. Another book from Twain's library shows up through interlibrary > loan. Forgeries are discovered in public and private collections. The > maddening story of how Twain's library was scattered in all directions is > balanced by the gratifying story of how much of it has been recovered and > preserved. > > In addition to enlarging the inventory of surviving books and identifying > the specific editions of the books listed in the various sales of books > from Twain's library, Gribben has also identified much new evidence of > Twain's readings in Twain's own writings. In his writings Twain often > mentions authors or books by name, but he more often alludes to people or > events, both fictional and nonfictional, that reflect his own reading. Of > course, Gribben is not the only person who has identified such sources, and > he includes the findings of many others' work, all reflected in his > extensive Critical Bibliography or in the individual catalogue entries. > > Twain's reading habits had already expanded beyond the horizons of Hannibal > when, as a teenager in 1852, he read an issue of the _Philadelphia Courier_ > that gave him the idea of writing an essay about Hannibal that he published > in that paper a short time later. He would remain a daily reader of > newspapers for the rest of his life. Thanks to the newspaper exchange > system, he read papers from all over the country every day, seeking fodder > to fill the pages of the newspapers where he was employed early in his > career, and later as a newspaper owner and editor. As a young man he read > obscure short-lived comic journals, and all his life he read the major > magazines of his day. He was photographed with piles of magazines and > newspapers, sometimes reading a magazine or paper whose name and date can > be identified. > > Twain was a life-long patron of libraries, taking advantage of two > printers' association libraries (one held 4,000 volumes) while employed as > a type-setter in New York City in 1853. He was awarded a sterling silver > key in return for officiating at a library opening in England, and he > befriended Andrew Carnegie, who established more public libraries in the > United States than any other library benefactor in US history. Twain > himself gave books from his own library to libraries several times in his > life, most notably establishing a public library in Redding, Connecticut, > with a large donation of books from his own shelves. > > Mark Twain was as much a reader as a writer, a bibliophile and connoisseur > who appreciated fine printing and elegant bindings, and also an avid reader > who literally consumed books, sometimes tearing or cutting them to pieces. > Twain's copy of Francis Galton's _Finger Prints_ (1892) does not survive, > but he clipped out the illustration of fingerprints from the title-page of > his copy and sent it to his publisher when brainstorming an idea for the > title-page design for _Pudd'nhead Wilson_. On the other hand, the books he > gave his wife and daughters were often sumptuously bound with heavily gilt > full leather bindings with silk end papers, like the edition of Browning he > gave his daughter Susy, or a set of Sir Walter Scott he gave his wife. A > copy of Bayard Taylor's _Home Ballads_ (1882) that Olivia Clemens gave her > mother on behalf of Jean and Clara (Susy was then old enough to select her > own gift for her grandmother) was elaborately bound in leather with > striking bird's-eye maple panels inset on the front and back covers. > Although Twain sometimes destroyed books in the service of his art, > beautiful examples of the book arts adorned the shelves of the Clemens > family library and were prized. > > Despite his vast and varied life-long reading habits, he cultivated a > public persona of not being particularly well-read, once writing an editor > of _The Critic_ that soliciting his opinion of what people should read > would be worthless to readers of _The Critic_ because he read mostly > history and biography, and that the sum total of the fiction and poetry > that he'd read would barely fill three octavo volumes. Paine and Howells > both played roles in perpetuating the myth that Twain did not appreciate > _belles-lettres_. In truth, Twain's personal library consisted of at least > 3,000 volumes, of which slightly more than one-third survive. His access to > the Langdon family library in Elmira, where he spent several months every > year during the twenty most productive years of his writing career, > broadened the scope of his available reading materials. > > It is sometimes forgotten that in Twain's day there was no television, > radio, movie theaters, internet, or other distractions competing as sources > of news or entertainment. Live entertainment--lectures, music, stage > performances, circuses, panoramas, carnivals, fairs, church socials, sewing > circles, reading clubs, and the like--filled many hours, but reading in the > home accounted for many more hours of the day, and there was a centuries > old tradition of reading aloud in church, school, and at home. That > tradition was honored in the Clemens household. Twain read much more than > most Americans and owned a library several times larger than those found in > the majority of nineteenth century households. > > Fortunately for Twainians, he also annotated his books more heavily than > most readers of his time, as demonstrated by the surviving third of his > library, as well as the many books in the Langdon family library that he > did not hesitate to mark up as he pleased. He was well-versed in the Greek > and Roman classics, the Bible, and classic works of literature from several > cultures, and his library also reflected a broad range of readings in > religion, politics, history, contemporary novels and poetry, travel, > biography, natural history, and medicine, as well as more narrow interests > like surnames, phrenology, astronomy, English sign-posts, and collections > of criminal trials. Twain's annotations often reflect a deep interest in > these subjects with cross-references to his other reading. Twain's stories > and characters may have come from his personal experiences, but the themes > and structures of his writings can be directly traced to his reading. > Twain's annotations are revelatory and make for entertaining reading. If > Twain's public writings are free of starch and full of truth, his book > annotations are free of restraint and bursting with naked candor, > especially when he made notations he knew his wife and children--and future > owners of these books--might read. > > It would be pretty to think that every book Twain ever read survived in his > library up to the time of his death, but the dispersal of his library began > with Twain himself during his lifetime. When he traveled for extended > periods his library was routinely put into storage (in 1878-1879, > 1891-1900, and 1903-1904) and not all of his books found their way back to > his shelves. He sent two "bushels" of books to help a library near his > Riverdale home in 1903, and he donated "four or five hundred old books" to > the Redding town library in June 1908. His daughter Clara donated at least > 1,750 more volumes to that library in Redding, Connecticut, a short drive > down the road from his last home, Stormfield--there is some evidence the > number might have been as many as 3,500 volumes. Some of those books were > retained by the vice-president of that library, Twain's friend and > illustrator, Dan Beard. It appears some of those books were sold almost > immediately at a town "fair" to benefit the library. Other books were left > with Albert Bigelow Paine. > > When Twain died, his bereaved long-time housekeeper, Katy Leary, was > allowed to keep ninety books from his library; those volumes would later be > rescued from a porch where they had been left in grocery bags to be hauled > away. Clara and Ossip Gabrilowitsch lived for a time at Stormfield after > Twain's death, and before they moved, Clara gave away household items to > her neighbors, like pots and pans and bric-a-brac, and she may have given > away some books as well. In 1911 an auction was held in New York with 556 > lots of books and household items from Mark Twain's estate, scattering 483 > of his books far and wide, some never to be seen again. In the 1930s and > 1940s Clara sometimes gave away books from her father's library, first in > Detroit and later in Los Angeles, and through a local bookseller she sold > sixty books to Estelle Doheny, a wealthy collector whose collection was > widely scattered when sold at auction in 1988 and 1989. > > In 1951 Clara emptied most of her remaining shelves, and more than 300 > lots of books from Twain's library were sold at a public auction held in a > carnival-like atmosphere on the grounds of her Hollywood home--complete > with a hot dog stand. One buyer stored his purchases in barrels which were > discovered in 1997, sent to auction, and are now at the Mark Twain House & > Museum in Hartford. In 1952, the librarian at the Mark Twain Library in > Redding held a sale that rid the small town library of books that were not > being checked out and taking up much-needed shelf space. Unfortunately, > that sale included an undetermined number of books from Twain's original > donation from his library, many of which have yet to resurface. > > Despite more than a century of dispersal and destruction, many of Twain's > books have been preserved. The bulk of his surviving books are to be found > at The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford (300 vols.), The Mark Twain > Papers at University of California at Berkeley (170 vols.), The Center for > Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College (ninety vols., plus 1,500 vols. from > the Langdon family library of which nearly 700 date from Twain's time in > Elmira--some with Twain's annotations), the Mark Twain Library in Redding, > Connecticut (240 vols.), and the personal collection of Kevin Mac Donnell > (300 vols., plus forty-four Langdon family library books from Twain's time > in Elmira--some with Twain's annotations). These counts are approximate and > all are "volume counts" that include multi-volume sets which often include > multiple annotated volumes. Compared to other author's libraries, Twainians > have less to complain about than they might first imagine. > > Literature on authors' libraries is relatively sparse, but those seeking > context, might consult _Collecting, Curating, and Researching Writers' > Libraries_ (2014), a collection of essays and interviews edited by Richard > Oram and Joseph Nicholson which includes a long list of authors' libraries > with data on how much of each library survives, and where. Twain's library > fares quite well when compared to the libraries of Kate Chopin, Stephen > Crane, Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William > Dean Howells, Henry James, Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry David > Thoreau, and Walt Whitman. Catalogues of many of those libraries have > appeared over the decades, but none compare to the comprehensive > investigation that Gribben has devoted to Twain. > > Gribben's astonishing accomplishment is one of the handful in Twain studies > that will stand as a foundational reference work for generations. Of > course, new volumes from Twain's library will continue to appear, and in > another fifty years--if luck holds and enough long-lost volumes from > Twain's library continue to come to light--there may be a need for an > addendum, but the solid foundation laid by Gribben will endure. In the > meantime Twainians should count themselves lucky and get to work > immediately, exploring the new avenues of enquiry suggested by Gribben's > tireless labor, while those who study the writings of Dickens, Hawthorne, > James, Melville, Poe, Whitman and other literary giants look on helplessly > from the sidelines and lament that no Gribben has yet appeared among them. >