I think the ELBOW ROOM publication was basically a “bait and switch” scam carried out by a small group. The Chicago Tribune on 27 Oct 1877 reported on the door-to-door scam. SLC sent a letter to newspapers across the country on 11 Dec 1877 disavowing it. Barb On Tuesday, July 23, 2019, Mac Donnell Rare Books < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > The copies with the new subtitle show Twain as the author. The title-pages > are a cancel, but the circumstances of their publication are unknown. > Normally such a re-issue would be attributed to a publisher trying to cash > in and move out unsold copies, but the timing (ca 1890) in this case > suggests perhaps another motivation--somebody trying to stir the pot or get > even, perhaps. I dunno. > > Kevin > @ > Mac Donnell Rare Books > 9307 Glenlake Drive > Austin TX 78730 > 512-345-4139 > Member: ABAA, ILAB, BSA > > You can browse our books at: > www.macdonnellrarebooks.com > > > ------ Original Message ------ > From: "David Dussere" <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > Sent: 7/22/2019 11:33:16 PM > Subject: Re: Mark Twain's Library of Humor a mystery > > There's always a bit/lot of unknown in the past. I'm not familiar with >> your copy of Elbow Room, or the Innocents at Home. My copy's title page is >> Elbow-Room/ a novel without a plot/ Philadelphia/ J.M. Stoddart & Co. Back >> page shows 1876. I think Elbow Room was remaindered and new title pages >> pasted in (one explanation for the subtitle you indicate). My memory >> (always a leaky vessel) recalls seeing a book with the title page Elbow >> Room with Mark Twain as the author. I saw this copy at U of Wisc. library >> (1971?) It was still cataloged with a Cutter number--hadn't been redone >> into LC.Horst Kruse's article in MTJ (1991) shows the animosity between >> Twain and Clark goes back to 1869 and publication of Twain's "Bad Boy" >> sketch. Twain's hostility to Clark may have changed his pseudonym from John >> Quill to Max Adeler. Anyway, the question remains-- was the Butterwick's >> Little Gas Bill" sketch included in MTLH as anonymous because the editors >> didn't know the author (Clark/Adeler was very well known in the 1880's), or >> because Twain wanted Clark/Adeler's name suppressed, or because Clark had >> renounced his humor in 1882 to become an editor and writer for business >> periodicals and refused permission, or for some other reason. There are >> good reasons to support each theory. Forthcoming facts are even more >> convincing. >> david dussere >> >> >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Mac Donnell Rare Books <[log in to unmask]> >> To: TWAIN-L <[log in to unmask]> >> Sent: Mon, Jul 22, 2019 8:19 am >> Subject: Re: Mark Twain's Library of Humor a mystery >> >> The plot thickens. Yes, Adeler accused Twain of stealing the plot for CY >> from him. Makes you wonder if the publication of Adeler's novel, Elbow >> Room (1876), with a fake title-page substituted reading Elbow Room, or >> the Innocents at Home, might have had something to do with all of this. >> The date is unknown but ca. 1890, so the timing is right. >> >> >> Kevin >> @ >> Mac Donnell Rare Books >> 9307 Glenlake Drive >> Austin TX 78730 >> 512-345-4139 >> Member: ABAA, ILAB, BSA >> >> You can browse our books at: >> www.macdonnellrarebooks.com >> >> >> ------ Original Message ------ >> From: "David Dussere" <[log in to unmask]> >> To: [log in to unmask] >> Sent: 7/22/2019 12:13:21 AM >> Subject: Re: Mark Twain's Library of Humor a mystery >> >> Thanks Kevin for your (as always) informative reply. Your guess that the >>> editors of the MTLH didn't know the source because it had been reprinted >>> with no author indicated is probably what happened. But I have two >>> theories, both based on the contentious relationship between Clark and >>> Twain. (The MTJ in 1991 has two essays--one by Horst Kruse and the other by >>> David Ketterman) illustrating the friction.) Perhaps Twain wanted >>> Clark's/Adeler's name suppressed. Or Clark refused to grant permission to >>> publish a possibly copyright piece. (The almost exact sketch ("Butterwick's >>> Little Gas Bill") is in Clark/Adeler's ELBOW ROOM.) By 1888 ( the >>> publishing of MTLH) Clark was trying to get rid of his reputation as a >>> "mere" humorist. I look forward to the Clemens conference and welcome any >>> further discussion about Clark/Adeler and his place as a humorist. >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: Mac Donnell Rare Books <[log in to unmask]> >>> To: TWAIN-L <[log in to unmask]> >>> Sent: Sun, Jul 21, 2019 11:59 am >>> Subject: Re: Mark Twain's Library of Humor a mystery >>> >>> Just speculating here: >>> >>> I've found Max Adler's sketches on Mr Butterwick's gas bill and Mr. >>> Butterwick counting sheep published in newspapers anonymously (and in >>> some papers where it is credited to Adler). Editors sometimes played >>> fast and loose with items they plucked from the exchange. Things get >>> credited to Twain that he did not write, and snippets from Twain's >>> published books often got reprinted under spurious titles, with and >>> without sourcing. Texts get altered to suit local readershiops and >>> authorships get misattributed or ignored. >>> >>> So, the text used in MTLB may have been taken from a newspaper, comic >>> anthology, or magazine where it appeared without the authorship >>> credited. I'm pretty certain Twain would have recognized Adler's >>> authorship of any sketch having to do with Mr Butterwick, but he did not >>> edit MTLB and may not have noticed the lack of attribution. >>> >>> I'd want to look at Gribben (MT's Library), MTP's online letters, >>> N&J1-3, AMT1-3, Fears Day-by-Day online (but double-check his citations, >>> and you may have to look under both the Ms and As in the index to find >>> references to Adler), as well as a few other places. >>> >>> Kevin >>> @ >>> Mac Donnell Rare Books >>> 9307 Glenlake Drive >>> Austin TX 78730 >>> 512-345-4139 >>> Member: ABAA, ILAB, BSA >>> >>> You can browse our books at: >>> www.macdonnellrarebooks.com >>> >>> >>> ------ Original Message ------ >>> From: "David Dussere" <[log in to unmask]> >>> To: [log in to unmask] >>> Sent: 7/20/2019 9:37:20 PM >>> Subject: Mark Twain's Library of Humor a mystery >>> >>> Only one selection "Butterwick's Little Gas Bill" in MTLH is attributed >>>> to anonymous. Why and what exactly was its source? Charles Heber Clark (Max >>>> Adeler/John Quill) wrote the sketch, but the where and why are only a >>>> speculation to me. I haven't done the needed research and would welcome any >>>> comments on the Forum or at the conference in Hannibal.David Dussere >>>> >>>> >>> >>