Mark Twain Speaking

Abbreviations

SELECTION OF TEXTS The editor soon realized, with dismay, that he could not be certain of exactly what Mark Twain said on any occasion. No electronic gear recorded the words precisely as they were spoken. In the absence of such modern devices, no text can be regarded as authoritative. A manuscript might appear to have some claim to reliability, as it represents what Mark Twain intended to say. Yet, though he wrote his speeches and memorized them, he was not a pedestrian learner who committed them word for word. Once on his feet and talking, he was likely to depart from the script by introducing new detail or turns of phrase, and he generally added comments suitable to a particular event. Hence, a manuscript is not more trustworthy than any other text. Manuscript versions often differ from those in newspapers and anthologies, and all of them usually differ from each other. To single out the correct one from among four or five variants, sometimes more, poses an insoluble problem. Therefore, the best parts of available texts, or what seemed to be the most Twainian parts, have been combined into composite versions. Conjecture has played a part in the process, together with attention to vernacular style, which he was more likely to use than a formal manner of speaking. This method, it is hoped, may catch something of the spirit and tone of Mark Twain, along with much that he probably said. ABBREVIATIONS Alta San Francisco Alta California Courant Hartford, Connecticut, Courant CTrib Chicago Tribune Eloquence(R) Modern Eloquence. 4 Vols. Ed. Thomas B. Reed. Philadelphia , 1903. Eloquence(T) Modern Eloquence. 15 Vols. Ed. Ashley H. Thorndike. New York, 1928. LLMT The Love Letters ofMark Twain. Ed. Dixon Wecter. New York, 1949. xxxi Lotos After Dinner Speeches at the Lotos Club. Arranged by John Elderkin, Chester A. Lord, Charles W. Price. New York, 1911. MS Manuscript MTA Mark Twain's Autobiography. 2 Vols. Ed. Albert Bigelow Paine. New York, 1924. MTB Albert Bigelow Paine. Mark Twain: A Biography. 4 Vols. New York, 1912. MTE Mark Twain in Eruption. Ed. Bernard DeVoto. New York, 1940. MTL Mark Twain's Letters. 2 Vols. Ed. Albert Bigelow Paine. New York, 1917. MTP The Mark Twain Papers, University of California, Berkeley. MTN Mark Twain's Notebook. Ed. Albert Bigelow Paine. New York, 1935. MTS(10) Mark Twain's Speeches. Compiled by F. A. Nast. With an Introduction by William Dean Howells. New York, 1910. MTS(23) Mark Twain's Speeches. With an Introduction by Albert Bigelow Paine, and an Appreciation by William Dean Howells. New York, 1923. NYTrib New York Tribune Sketches Mark Twain. Sketches New and Old. New York, 1903. Times New York Times Trouble Fred W. Lorch. The Trouble Begins at Eight. Ames, Iowa, 1966. TS Typescript World New York World ...