Twain in His Own Time: A Biographical Chronicle of His Life, Drawn from Recollections, Interviews, and Memoirs by Family, Friends, and Associates

From Recollections of a Varied Life (1910)

[150] === From Recollections of a Varied Life (1910) George Cary Eggleston The author George Cary Eggleston (1839–1911) recalled the circumstances of an Authors’ Club meeting, probably the one on 22 April 1886. i presided, many years ago, at a banquet given by the Authors Club to Mr. William Dean Howells. Nothing was prearranged. There was no schedule of toasts in my hand, no list of speakers primed to respond to them. With so brilliant a company to draw upon I had no fear as to the result of calling up the man I wanted without warning. In the course of the haphazard performance, it occurred to me that we ought to have a speech by some publisher, and accordingly I called upon Mr. J. Henry Harper—“Harry Harper,”1 we who knew and loved him called him. His embarrassment was positively painful to behold. He made no attempt whatever to respond but appealed to me to excuse him. At that point Mark Twain came to the rescue by offering to make Mr. Harper’s speech for him. “I’m a publisher myself,” he explained, “and I’ll speak for the publishers.” A roar of applause welcomed the suggestion, and Mr. Clemens proceeded to make the speech. In the course of it he spoke of the multitude of young authors who beset every publisher and beseech him for advice after he has explained that their manuscripts are “not available” for publication by his own firm, with its peculiar limitations. Most publishers cruelly refuse, he said, to do anything for these innocents. “I never do that,” he added. “I always give them good advice, and more than that, I always do something for them—I give them notes of introduction to [Richard Watson] Gilder.” [151] Note 1. J. Henry Harper (1850–1938), an officer in the publishing firm of Harper & Bros. for most of his adult life and grandson of John Harper, one of the founders of the company. Twain often visited Harper at his summerhouse on Long Island. George Cary Eggleston, from Recollections of a Varied Life (New York: Holt, 1910), 258–59. George Cary Eggleston ...