Mark Twain Essay Compilation

Sorry, I’m terrible at explaining this type of thing.
Here’s some more photos:

None of the first pages of any of the essays have page numbers, here’s page two of “Sitting in Darkness”



Here’s the last page of “Sitting In Darkness”, on the right is the last page of a different work.


Turning that page here’s the first page of “Missionary Critics”, no page number printed but presumably page 520. The backside of that page(above)is 519 and the page following is 521.


Here’s the last page of “Missionaries and Their Critics”....


...here’s the backside of that page, the first page of the next essay in the original binding(notice no page number).
To the right is the first page of the next Twain essay, again with no page number.

 

That's what I thought I was seeing here:



and here:



I see now pages are more as I would expect them to be if taken from the periodical, but still can't imagine that these pages were removed from separate issues of the magazine. For one thing, have seen plenty of books with paper like this, not magazines. Think we'll have to wait & see what Fig can find out.

 

Thanks for the further information! So far it does appear that somebody had these bound together later, and in the 20th century, not 19th. Right now UNI is doing some technical upgrades to their online systems. (They often do these on weekends.) So I can't do anything right now.

Looks like there are eight essays.

Another question (and I'm sorry if you've already answered this and I'm not remembering). Is there any indication of the former owner of this volume?

 

The owner was a school teacher(High School I believe) who moved from California’s Central Valley to the coast in the mid 20’s approximately. She would’ve been in her 20’s when she moved.

 

So it's possible that she was the original owner? I was thinking about the content and more and more, am thinking that somebody had this bound together privately. I haven't found any others so far. I'll still need to ask the NAR editor when I can.

 

I heard from Dr. Jeremy Schraffenberger, the multi-genre editor of the North American Review. He also has a special interest in the history of the publication. He doesn't know exactly about this, and finds it intriguing. He sent some interesting information and theories after I sent him a list of the essays in this book and also sent him a link to this thread:

" I'm putting together some clues, though in the end I don't have the answer. Here's what I'm thinking. The final piece collected in this book is from January 1905. Twain, of course, published twenty-five chapters from his autobiography in the NAR beginning in September 1906. It would make sense for someone collecting Twain's writing in this way not to include these chapters, which were themselves eventually collected and published together, along with more chapters of his autobiography. There is one additional essay, however, that appeared in the NAR in March 1905 called "The Czar's Soliloquy" that does not appear in this book. So it seems clear to me that the book was created between Jan. and Mar. 1905 or else "The Czar's Soliloquy" would be in its pages, too.

"1905 was a momentous year for Twain because he turned 70. The owner of the NAR at the time, George Harvey, threw a big party for him at the Red Room at Delmonico's in New York. I can imagine--though this is only speculation--that Harvey or someone else affiliated with the NAR might have bound the essays that had appeared in the North American Review for this occasion, either as a gift to Twain himself or as a kind of party favor. After all, Harvey had paster busts of Twain made as gifts to all 170 guests who were present. Harvey was extremely wealthy and would pay Twain an enormous amount of money to publish chapters from his autobiography, so binding these essays seems like an easy thing for him to have done. At any rate, I find it likely that the book is connected with Twain's birthday celebration, which was a big deal at the time. I hope this helps somewhat!"

He also said that you can write to him with more questions, through the general address for the NAR. Since we don't normally put email addresses in our posts here, please go to the NAR website to find their address at the bottom of the page. https://northamericanreview.org/ -- And he normally wouldn't be the person initially reading the email so it would be good to say that the question or message is for him.

 

@Figtree3 Great stuff & what a nice guy. I found this interesting:

Twain's birthday was November 30. Would it have taken so long to get book(s) bound that a piece from March couldn't make the deadline? Makes me wonder what the Czar had to say!

 

You have found a very old book. For me Mark Twain is one of my favorite author. I read his book at school so many times. One of my favorites story is Luck.
Luck
Story
[NOTE.--This is not a fancy sketch. I got it from a clergyman who was
an instructor at Woolwich forty years ago, and who vouched for its truth.
--M.T.]

It was at a banquet in London in honour of one of the two or three
conspicuously illustrious English military names of this generation.
For reasons which will presently appear, I will withhold his real name
and titles, and call him Lieutenant-General Lord Arthur Scoresby, V.C.,
K.C.B., etc., etc., etc. What a fascination there is in a renowned name!
There say the man, in actual flesh, whom I had heard of so many thousands
of times since that day, thirty years before, when his name shot suddenly
to the zenith from a Crimean battle-field, to remain for ever celebrated.
It was food and drink to me to look, and look, and look at that demigod;
scanning, searching, noting: the quietness, the reserve, the noble
gravity of his countenance; the simple honesty that expressed itself all
over him; the sweet unconsciousness of his greatness--unconsciousness of
the hundreds of admiring eyes fastened upon him, unconsciousness of the
deep, loving, sincere worship welling out of the breasts of those people
and flowing toward him.

The clergyman at my left was an old acquaintance of mine--clergyman now,
but had spent the first half of his life in the camp and field, and as an
instructor in the military school at Woolwich. Just at the moment I have
been talking about, a veiled and singular light glimmered in his eyes,
and he leaned down and muttered confidentially to me--indicating the hero
of the banquet with a gesture,--'Privately--his glory is an accident--
just a product of incredible luck.'

This verdict was a great surprise to me. If its subject had been
Napoleon, or Socrates, or Solomon, my astonishment could not have been
greater.

Some days later came the explanation of this strange remark, and this is
what the Reverend told me......

 

I have read all stories and novels of Mark Twain. I admire all author that can write so beautiful and interesting stories. Because I always had problem with this. I didn't like to write big essays and my mom often helped me at school. Now I am a mom too and I had a son that often ask me for a help. I can help him with many lessons but sometimes I ask for the help of a professional in writing essays that I found on https://edubirdie.com/speech-writers. I don't consider it wrong, because in such way my son learns how to write a good essay. I want that my son achieve all the necessary knowledge from school and know how to apply them in real life.