by Ben Tarnoff
Unhappiness forced him “I never had but . . .”: SLC to Orion and Mary E. Clemens, October 19 and 20, 1865, in MTL, vol. 1, pp. 322–323.
This epiphany marked “drop all trifling . . .”: ibid., p. 324.
His new self-knowledge “I am utterly . . .” and “If I do not . . .”: ibid. “It is only now . . .”: ibid., p. 323. Praise from New York Round Table and its effect in SF: Edgar Marquess Branch, “Introduction,” in ET&S, vol. 1, pp. 32–33, and ET&S, vol. 2, p. 268.
Out of this crisis Twain probably wrote the final version of the story between October 16 and 18, 1865, and sent it on the Pacific Mail steamship that departed San Francisco on October 18; see ET&S, vol. 2, p. 269. Carleton passing the item to Clapp: ibid., p. 270; MTN, p. 80; and MTB, vol. 1, pp. 277–278.
Twain modeled the Southwestern frame: Kenneth S. Lynn, Mark Twain and Southwestern Humor, pp. 64–65, and Hennig Cohen and William B. Dillingham, “Introduction” in Humor of the Old Southwest, ed. Hennig Cohen and William B. Dillingham (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1994 [1964]), pp. xxix–xxxi. See also James E. Caron, Mark Twain, pp. 28–32.
At first, “Jim Smiley” Use of Pike County dialect: David Carkeet, “The Dialects in Huckleberry Finn,” p. 326. All quotes: Mark Twain, “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog,” New York Saturday Press, November 18, 1865, in ET&S, vol. 2, pp. 284–285.
Twain inverts the Twain’s inversion of Southwestern conventions: Kenneth S. Lynn, Mark Twain and Southwestern Humor, pp. 145–147.
“Jim Smiley and” “set all New York” and “I have been asked . . .”: Richard Ogden, “Letter from New York,” written December 10, 1865, published in Alta California, January 10, 1866, quoted in ET&S, vol. 2, p. 271. Eastern praise: ibid. “No reputation . . .”: Edward H. House, “Mark Twain as a Lecturer,” New York Tribune, May 11, 1867, included in TIHOT, p. 64.
By the end “an English graft”: Bret Harte, “Our Last Offering,” Californian, April 22, 1865.
No one recognized “those New York people . . .”: SLC to Jane Lampton Clemens and Pamela A. Moffett, January 20, 1866, in MTL, vol. 1, p. 327.
Harte followed Twain’s “[I]t will never . . .”: Henry J. W. Dam, “A Morning with Bret Harte,” p. 48. Harte reprinted the story as “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” in the Californian, December 16, 1865. For an overview of the changes introduced by either Harte or Twain, see ET&S, vol. 2, pp. 667–668. “Though I am . . .” and “I wouldn’t . . .”: SLC to Jane Lampton Clemens and Pamela A. Moffett, January 20, 1866, in MTL, vol. 1, p. 328.
It began innocently Origins of Outcroppings: BHAN, pp. 80–81, and Bret Harte, “My First Book,” in The Bell-Ringer of Angel’s and Other Stories (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1894), pp. 321–327. “chill wind” and “attaining . . .”: ibid., p. 324. “practical business men . . .”: ibid., p. 325.
These happened to Ina Coolbrith contributed “Cupid Kissed Me,” “The Mother’s Grief,” “A Lost Day,” and “In the Pouts.” Charles Warren Stoddard contributed “At Anchor,” “A Fancy,” “Through the Shadows,” and “Mars.” Charles Henry Webb contributed five poems. “monotonous climate”: preface to Bret Harte, ed., Outcroppings: Being Selections of California Verse (San Francisco: A. Roman, 1866), p. 3.
Predictably, Outcroppings provoked Response to Outcroppings: BHAN, pp. 81–82; BHGS, pp. 27–28; SFLF, pp. 214–217; and Bret Harte, “My First Book,” pp. 328–333. “Bret Harte has given . . .”: San Francisco Dramatic Chronicle, December 7, 1865. “contains as little . . .”: Sacramento Union, December 20, 1865. “the very trashiest . . .”: quoted in BHGS, p. 28. See ibid. for more reviews: a “Bohemian advertising medium” (San Francisco American Flag); “purp-stuff” (Gold Hill News); “a mutual admiration society” (Pajaro Times).
Harte had started “One of the most . . .” and “He affects . . .”: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, reprinted in San Francisco Examiner, January 19, 1866. “Methinks . . .”: Bret Harte, “Tailings: Rejections of California Verse,” Californian, December 23, 1865, quoted in SFLF, p. 217. For more of the Bohemian counterattack, see Californian, December 9, 1865; December 16, 1865; December 23, 1865; and December 30, 1865.
The two camps Industrialized interior: Earl Pomeroy, The Pacific Slope, pp. 46–47, 53.
The struggle over Self-censorship in California: Bret Harte, “Bohemian Days in San Francisco,” pp. 268–269, and Bret Harte, “From California,” Springfield Republican, May 5, 1866, included in Bret Harte, Bret Harte’s California, ed. Gary Scharnhorst (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1990), pp. 28–30.
Outcroppings’ critics feared “to foster Eastern . . .”: Bret Harte, “My First Book,” p. 322.
Yet the eastern Eastern response to Outcroppings: “Eastern Assays of California Outcroppings,” Californian, January 20, 1866, and BHGS, p. 27. “abused beyond . . .”: letter from BH to Anton Roman, quoted BGHS, p. 28. “We know all . . .” and “poetical asses”: SLC to Jane Lampton Clemens and Pamela A. Moffett, January 20, 1866, in MTL, vol. 1, pp. 328–329. A competing volume to Outcroppings was eventually published as Poetry of the Pacific (San Francisco: Pacific, 1867); see MTL, vol. 1, pp. 330–331.
By early 1866 “‘Deep Diggings,’ in . . .”: Sacramento Bee, January 15, 1866. “rare good taste”: quoted in BHGS, p. 28.
Inside a quiet Coolbrith’s parlor: Charles Warren Stoddard, “Ina D. Coolbrith,” p. 313, and Charles Warren Stoddard, “In Old Bohemia II: The ‘Overland’ and the Overlanders,” pp. 268–269. The address of Coolbrith’s house was 1302 Taylor Street, between Washington and Jackson Streets, as provided in Henry G. Langley, San Francisco Directory, 1867–1868; see ICLL, p. 81. “She was the center . . .”: Joaquin Miller, “California’s Fair Poet,” San Francisco Morning Call, August 21, 1892. “Those eyes . . .”: George Wharton James, “Ina Donna Coolbrith,” National Magazine 26.3 (June 1907), p. 315. “Miss Coolbrith . . .”: “Outcroppings,” Nation, December 7, 1865, quoted in “Eastern Assays of California Outcroppings,” Californian, January 20, 1866.
Her parlor gave The architectural variety of SF is described in Amelia Ransome Neville, The Fantastic City, p. 192: “In residence districts one found a varied assortment of architectural freaks, and downtown still had a haphazard aspect, with low frame structures, surviving from the fifties, scattered among well-built business blocks.” “hill of Memories”: Ina Coolbrith, “From Russian Hill,” in Wings of Sunset (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1929), p. 15.
Harte came often Decline of the Californian and Webb’s departure: SFLF, pp. 180, 184, and MTR, p. 699. Webb left San Francisco on April 18, 1866. Harte edited the paper until August 1, 1866, when he was replaced by James F. Bowman. The Californian survived for another two years; its final issue appeared on November 21, 1868.
Charles Warren Stoddard also became “I was nowhere . . .”: Charles Warren Stoddard, “In Old Bohemia II,” p. 269. Leaving Brayton Academy: CSCWS, p. 86. “It was now evident . . .”: CRP, chap. 3, p. 9. “restful room”: Charles Warren Stoddard, “In Old Bohemia II,” p. 269. In CRP, chap. 4, p. 4, Stoddard says that Harte had by this point become his “guide, philosopher and friend.” “He would jump . . .”: an interview in the Santa Barbara Morning Press, October 31, 1908, included in the Stoddard clippings at BANC. “In mood he . . .” and “I used to say . . .”: ICCWS.
Outcroppings brought them “the abuse which . . .”: CRP, chap. 4, p. 2. “the worst specimens . . .”: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, quoted in San Francisco Evening Bulletin, January 6, 1866. “no satisfaction” and “It was in reality . . .”: ICCWS.
In 1866, shortly Stoddard’s compliment-fishing campaign: CSCWS, pp. 91–94; GP, pp. 32–34; and CRP, chap. 4, pp. 3–5. “I was hoping . . .”: CRP, chap. 4, p. 3.
Incredibly, most replied “I am much . . .”: Ralph Waldo Emerson to CWS, quoted in CSCWS, p. 93. “I have read . . .”: Alfred Tennyson to CWS, December 28, 1866, quote
d ibid. “quite struck”: Herman Melville to CWS, quoted in GP, p. 33. “of the very . . .”: John Stuart Mill to CWS, quoted ibid. “an apology for . . .”: Oliver Wendell Holmes to CWS, quoted in CRP, chap. 4, p. 4.
But Stoddard was “ethereal unreality”: ICHC. “as much out . . .”: BH to Henry Whitney Bellows, September 15, 1866, quoted in BHAN, p. 89. Stoddard beginning to plan his book: CRP, chap. 4, p. 4, and GP, p. 34.
Twain could relate “[p]oor, pitiful . . .,” “scribbling . . .,” and “blinded . . .”: SLC to Orion and Mary E. Clemens, October 19 and 20, 1865, in MTL, vol. 1, p. 323. “I loved him . . .”: ICCWS. “He was refined . . .”: AMT, p. 161.
By 1866, he Origins of Twain’s Hawaii trip: MTAL, pp. 159–160, and MTL, vol. 1, p. 331. “I am so sorry . . . ,” “the cream of the town,” “Where could . . .”: SLC to Jane Lampton Clemens and Pamela A. Moffett, January 20, 1866, MTL, pp. 329–330.
He wouldn’t make Twain departed San Francisco on the Ajax on March 7, 1866. For his agreement with the Sacramento Union, see SLC to William R. Gillis, March 3[?], 1866, and SLC to Jane Lampton Clemens and Pamela A. Moffett, March 5, 1866, in MTL, vol. 1, pp. 332–334. “I am tired . . .”: SLC to Orion and Mollie Clemens, December 13, 1865, ibid., p. 326. See also MTN, pp. 94–95.
In his four months See Mark Twain, Letters from the Sandwich Islands: Written for the Sacramento Union by Mark Twain, ed. G. Ezra Dane (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1938). These letters formed the basis for an unpublished book, later absorbed into chaps. 62–78 of Roughing It. “I have not written . . .”: SLC to Mollie Clemens, May 22, 1866, in MTL, vol. 1, p. 341. Historical background on Hawaii and overview of Twain’s trip: MTN, pp. 95–108. Twain’s Hawaii notebooks: ibid., pp. 110–237.
In the midst Hornet disaster and Twain: David Zmijewski, “The Hornet: Mark Twain’s Interpretations of a Perilous Journey,” Hawaiian Journal of History, vol. 33 (1999), pp. 55–67; SLC to Jane Lampton Clemens and Pamela A. Moffett, June 27, 1866, in MTL, vol. 1, pp. 347–349; Mark Twain, “My Début as a Literary Person,” Century Magazine 59.1 (Nov. 1899), pp. 76–88; and MTAL, pp. 161–162. Twain’s article appeared on the front page of the Sacramento Union, July 19, 1866.
He was on fire Twain demanding $300 from Sacramento Union: Mark Twain, “My Début as a Literary Person,” p. 77. His magazine piece appeared as “Forty-Three Days in an Open Boat,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine 34.199 (Dec. 1866), pp. 104–113, although Harper’s misidentified him as “Mark Swain.” The article benefited enormously from the fact that Twain accompanied three of the Hornet survivors back to the United States. This gave him the opportunity to interview them, and to copy the contents of two of their journals.
His motive, as always Ward’s earnings at San Francisco debut: Edward P. Hingston, The Genial Showman: Reminiscences of the Life of Artemus Ward, and Pictures of a Showman’s Career in the Western World (London: John Camden Hotten, 1871), p. 299. Ward’s lucrative career: Mark Twain, “Artemus Ward Lecture,” in Mark Twain, Mark Twain Speaking, ed. Paul Fatout (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2006 [1976]), p. 45. After his return to SF, Twain worked on turning his Union letters into a book manuscript. He had abandoned the project by June 1867; see MTN, pp. 103, 176–177. Origins of first lecture: Fred W. Lorch, The Trouble Begins at Eight: Mark Twain’s Lecture Tours (Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1968), pp. 25–26, and MTR, pp. 533–534.
One rainy evening All quotes: George E. Barnes, “Mark Twain as He Was Known during His Stay on the Pacific Coast,” in TIHOT, p. 60.
Happily, Twain obeyed Marketing campaign: MTAL, p. 163, and MTR, p. 533. “A SPLENDID ORCHESTRA . . .” and “The Trouble . . .”: from an advertisement in the Daily Alta California, September 28, 1866.
Twain’s promotional push Advance sales: Paul Fatout, Mark Twain on the Lecture Circuit (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1960), p. 36. “We have no . . .”: San Francisco Morning Call, September 30, 1866, quoted ibid., p. 36. “Those who wish . . .”: San Francisco Evening Bulletin, October 2, 1866, quoted ibid., p. 37. Rumors: ibid., p. 36, and Fred W. Lorch, The Trouble Begins at Eight, p. 26.
Several years later “the most distressed . . .” and “I grieved that . . .”: MTR, p. 533.
On the evening Descriptions of premiere: Paul Fatout, Mark Twain on the Lecture Circuit, p. 38; Fred W. Lorch, The Trouble Begins at Eight, p. 29; and San Francisco Evening Bulletin, October 3, 1866. “It is perhaps fortunate . . .”: ibid. “the regular opera . . .”: quoted in Paul Fatout, Mark Twain on the Lecture Circuit, p. 38. “a big claque”: Bailey Millard, “Mark Twain in San Francisco,” The Bookman: A Magazine of Literature and Life 31.4 (June 1910), p. 371.
At eight o’clock Crowd’s reaction and Twain’s first moments onstage: Fred W. Lorch, The Trouble Begins at Eight, p. 29, and MTAL, p. 168. “I was in the middle . . .”: MTR, p. 535.
For seventy-five minutes “brilliant success” and “word painting”: San Francisco Evening Bulletin, October 3, 1866. Description of lecture: ibid.; Fred W. Lorch, The Trouble Begins at Eight, pp. 30–32; Paul Fatout, Mark Twain on the Lecture Circuit, pp. 42–43, 47; and MTAL, pp. 167–169. The audience was especially impressed with Twain’s eloquent description of the eruption of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii.
Even Harte came All quotes: Bret Harte, “From California,” Springfield Republican, October 27, 1866, included in Bret Harte, Bret Harte’s California, ed. Gary Scharnhorst, p. 104. The first series of James Russell Lowell’s collected Biglow Papers appeared in 1848; the second series appeared in 1867.
He captured “I think I recognize . . .”: Bret Harte, “From California,” Springfield Republican, October 27, 1866, included in Bret Harte, Bret Harte’s California, ed. Gary Scharnhorst, p. 104.
Twain’s total take $400: Fred W. Lorch, The Trouble Begins at Eight, p. 33. Twain’s tour through California and Nevada: ibid., pp. 35-41, and Paul Fatout, Mark Twain on the Lecture Circuit, pp. 45–56.
The climax came Performances in Virginia City and Carson City: Fred W. Lorch, The Trouble Begins at Eight, pp. 40–41, and Paul Fatout, Mark Twain on the Lecture Circuit, pp. 54–55. “hurricane of applause”: Steve Gillis, quoted ibid., p. 54. Carson City invitation: MTAL, p. 166; SLC to Abraham V. Z. Curry and Others, November 1, 1866, in MTL, vol. 1, p. 363; and SLC to Henry G. Blasdel and Others, November 1, 1866, ibid., pp. 364–365.
Back in San Francisco Return to SF and second lecture: MTAL, p. 170; Fred W. Lorch, The Trouble Begins at Eight, pp. 43–45; Paul Fatout, Mark Twain on the Lecture Circuit, pp. 58–60. “be heartily . . .”: San Francisco Dramatic Chronicle, quoted ibid., p. 60. Courts claiming share of proceeds for forfeited bond: Gary Scharnhorst, “Mark Twain’s Imbroglio with the San Francisco Police: Three Lost Texts,” American Literature, 62.4 (Dec. 1990), p. 691.
Fortunately, he soon Twain’s commission with the Alta California: MTAL, pp. 170–171, and MTL, vol. 1, p. 370. Hopes for Hawaii book: MTL, vol. 2, pp. 3–4.
On the evening Twain’s final lecture and all quotes: Alta California, December 15, 1866, reprinted in Fred W. Lorch, The Trouble Begins at Eight, pp. 49–50, and MTL, vol. 1, p. 373.
Five days later Twain departed SF on December 15, 1866; see MTL, vol. 2, p. 1. “than any newspaper . . .” and “fraternity”: SLC to Jane Lampton Clemens and Family, December 15, 1866, in MTL, vol. 1, p. 373. “Lincoln of our literature”: William Dean Howells, My Mark Twain, p. 84.
CHAPTER FIVE
It had been Date of Twain’s arrival in NY: MTAL, p. 174. For his impressions of the city, see his letters in Alta California, March 28, 1867; July 7, 1867; July 21, 1867; and August 11, 1867. NY as nerve center of new economy: Sven Beckert, The Monied Metropolis: New York City and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie, 1850–1896 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003 [2001]), pp. 145–195. “no man dreamt . . .” and “original barbarism”: Mark Twain, “The Sex in New York,” Alta California, July 21, 1867.
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sp; Twain had a talent “fidgety, feverish restlessness”: Mark Twain, “New York,” Alta California, August 11, 1867.
While Twain elbowed Construction of Central Pacific in early 1867: David Haward Bain, Empire Express, pp. 315–322. Chinese workers: ibid., pp. 208–209, 221–223. Pacific Railway Act of 1862 and its amendment in 1864: ibid., pp. 104–118, 178–180, and Richard White, Railroaded, pp. 17–27.
Meanwhile, California anxiously Reading boom: John Tebbel, Between Covers: The Rise and Transformation of Book Publishing in America (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), pp. 79–88; Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt, in collaboration with Lawrence C. Wroth and Rollo G. Silver, The Book in America: A History of the Making and Selling of Books in the United States, 2nd ed. (New York: R. R. Bowker, 1951), pp. 195–201; and MTAL, pp. 175–176. Coolbrith in the Galaxy and Harper’s Weekly: ICLL, p. 88. From January 1866 to November 1867, Harte wrote letters about California for the Boston Christian Register and the Springfield Republican; see Bret Harte, Bret Harte’s California, ed. Gary Scharnhorst.
Scaling the heights Stoddard’s first book: CRP, chap. 4, pp. 4A–5; CSCWS, pp. 94–97; MTL, vol. 2, pp. 30–31.
Before leaving for “Your book will . . .”: SLC to CWS, April 23, 1867, in MTL, vol. 2, pp. 29–30. “My Young Friend . . .”: SLC to CWS, April 27, 1867, in MTL, vol. 2, p. 36.
Twain’s sympathy for Twain’s hopes for Hawaii book: SLC to Edward P. Hingston, January 15, 1867, in MTL, vol. 2, pp. 8–9. Heavy traffic: Mark Twain, “The Overgrown Metropolis,” Alta California, March 28, 1867. Winter: Mark Twain, “The Dreadful Russian Bath,” Alta California, April 5, 1867, and “New York Weather,” Alta California, June 30, 1867. Twain and Webb in NY: MTL, vol. 2, pp. 6–7; TAMT, pp. 198–199; and MTAL, p. 177.
In February 1867 In a letter to John McComb, February 2[?]–7, 1867, summarized in “California Authors,” Alta California, March 15, 1867, Twain made it clear that he expected Carleton to publish his book; see MTL, vol. 2, pp. 12–14. Scene with Carleton: TAMT, pp. 199–200. “Well, what can . . .”: ibid., p. 200.
