Continuing with David Fears' Day By Day on Twain's Geography

Submitted by scott on Sat, 01/21/2023 - 11:16

David Fears' Mark Twain Day By Day has provided me with an excellent base for the where and when of Mark Twain.  This is quite significant when trying to determine Twain's Geography.  I have found we have something in common in that our projects do not deal specifically with Twain's literature.  I can't speak for Fears' motivations except to note that he seems to have wanted to get a handle on what was happening in the man's life at that moment.  For myself, I want to find indications of Twain's interpretation of his where and when.  As I've mentioned before, Twain is my Virgil through a to

Cairo, Illinois - Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Fluvial Geomorpholgy

Cairo, Illinois has recently come to my attention because of feedback on my entry for this location in Twain’s Geography. I can readily see why Cairo may have been missed by Huck and Jim floating down the Mississippi, Most of the town is actually situated on the Ohio River. My respondent denies any significant economic activity in the town she grew up in, and this is likely the case for her, her parents and probably her grandparents. I found a publication from 1910 that goes into great detail on the history of development – and periods of destruction experienced by this town.

Anarchy? Not so bad

Submitted by scott on Thu, 03/24/2022 - 10:51

Anarchy may not be the bad thing most people believe it to be. The word has been hijacked as a synomym for chaos, not its original meaning. A Wikipedia article defines anarchy as a “society being freely constituted without authorities or a governing body.

The Gilded Age, then and now

History may not repeat itself but today’s economic and social reality does rhyme with Mark Twain’s Gilded Age of the 1870’s – and into the 20th century. Mega-corporations and our current neo-feudalism are reflections of the railroads and other large industries of those earlier years. And, the consequences of this are as well.

Sam Clemens Leaves Home: 1853- 1854

Submitted by scott on Fri, 08/06/2021 - 10:16

Sometime in May or June of 1853 seventeen year old Sam Clemens left home for the first time. He departed the small Mississippi River town of Hannibal, Missouri, later reflected in stories of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, boarded a packet steamer bound for St. Louis, and began a life of travel. Packet steamers were vessels that transported both freight and passengers. Some packets were faster but not so reliable; some were larger but also slower; some were more luxurious, but carried less freight.

Dead Cats in Bermuda

Submitted by scott on Mon, 06/24/2019 - 18:29
Twain and Twichell

Mark Twain and his friend, the reverend Joseph Twichell, visited Bermuda fro May 17 to 21 of 1877.   They spend a good deal of time walking along the roads, viewing the countryside.  At one point they stopped at a cottage for a drink of water and conversation with a man whose name was not Mr. Smith. He had a sorry tale to tell of his neighbors and their dead cats and the litigation caused by the cats demise.

 

The illustration is actually from "A Tramp Abroad" but I thought it an appropriate caricature of the two men.

Following the Equator: Chapter XLII

Submitted by scott on Sun, 06/23/2019 - 10:30
Midnight in a Bombay Street

Mark Twain travels through the dark streets of Bombay after night fall.  The streets are full of sleeping figures stretched out on the ground, wrapped in blankets with barely enough room for the carriage.  He attends a betrothal celebration featuring Nautch dancers and musicians.  This occurs before the plague hits the city but at the time of his writing this chapter the city is decimated with the plague.  Twain includes a passage from "Eothen" by Alexander William Kinglake, imagining the onset of the plague.  He writes "Kinglake was in Cairo many years ago during an epidemic of the Black D

Letters from The Innocents Abroad

Submitted by scott on Tue, 05/14/2019 - 16:17

From Daniel Morley McKeithan’s book, “Traveling with the Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain’s Original Reports from Europe and the Holy Land”, 1958, I’ve abstracted the letters and provided pdf clips from the archived newspapers. My copy of McKeithan’s book is a used copy found on Amazon. From a signature on the front cover page I can see that it was a Christmas gift (1958) from Frances. I am unable to discern the recipients name. The Innocents Abroad was published in 1869.