The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today

This preface states that Mr. Clemens resided two weeks in Canada, previous to the Montreal appearance, and demanded copyright protection as a Canadian for his book.

the courts denied the validity of this procedure and the author fell back on the plea of previous publication in england this would seem to establish the priority of the english issue all mark twain collectors have noted the peculiar and distinctive form taken by the books bearing his name beginning with the innocents abroad and continuing through the larger and more important works this was due to the more or less accidental entering by mark twain of the subscription book field not usually invaded by the better authors in those days nowadays the book agent commonly offers a set of your favorite author in those times before the era of cheap processes of engraving and printing the agent offered a single book destined to repose in state upon the parlor table which was apt to depend more upon the then plenteous number of its engravings and the splendor of its binding than upon any great literary merit within in fact most of these books were of the instructive order travel history and the like the american publishing company to whom the innocents abroad was offered had made a specialty of these subscription books mr elisha bliss the head of the firm signed a contract to produce mark twain's work but on seeking the approval of his board of directors met with opposition the directors fancied that the humorous qualities of mark twain's style would interfere with the sale of the work as a book of travel and it was only at mr bliss's avowal of faith in the author and a personal offer to take over the company's contract that the work proceeded the american publishing company had just made a successful campaign with mr richardson's beyond the mississippi naturally the new book took the form of the previous success with similar typographical features and scheme of illustration people in those days would not pay for blank paper and wide margins says mr frank bliss who was associated with his father in the production of the books they wanted everything filled up with type or pictures when we saw after the first issue of a book a space of several inches at the end of a chapter left blank we generally supplied a cut to fill it in mark twain had nothing at all to do with the matter except the furnishing of some photographs and to smile and approve of the drawings that he happened to see he was thoroughly well pleased and expressed himself so many times with the illustrating of his books elisha bliss jr was a man of fine literary and artistic perceptions who thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed mr clemens's humor and writings and so was able to give many valuable directions in the making of the pictures the artist mr true w williams with the help of an occasional other artist made the drawings as far down as pudd'nhead wilson he could put mr clemens's ideas into a picture perfectly he could make serious and lovely pictures as well as comic he was a well-read and pleasant fellow whose convivial habits frequently led him astray but these were overcome in the latter years of his life i am happy to say causing mr clemens to declare that he was the greatest combination of hog and angel he ever saw following the evident trail of form and illustration from the richardson book on through the innocents abroad we find the same firm of engravers employed fay cox this firm had its principal artist mr true williams referred to above after a time the american publishing company disregarded the engraving firm dealt with williams direct took him down to hartford and kept him steadily employed for a number of years he made most of the illustrations for the gilded age and illustrated sketches new and old and adventures of tom sawyer in their entirety after the webster interregnum when the american publishing company came back into the mark twain field mr frank bliss took charge of the production of the books mr clemens was not in america in eighteen ninety four when pudd'nhead wilson appeared or in eighteen ninety seven when following the equator was put on the market therefore mr bliss alone determined the form of those books he originated the idea of the marginal illustrations for pudd'nhead and hired the various artists who contributed to following the equator practically all the latter set of artists being retained to contribute pictures for the autograph edition in nevada Twain wrote for the Virginia City Enterprise, in California for the San Francisco Call, the Daily Alta, the Sacramento Union newspapers, and the Californian and Overland magazines, in Buffalo for the Express, and his last salaried literary labor was for the Galaxy magazine in 1871.

End of Section 8 Notes section nine of excerpts from a bibliography of the work of mark twain by merle johnson introduction to index many mark twain titles have been altered several times by their various editors the attempt is made here to give each story with its first edition history under the original title changed titles are in each case referred back to the original title though perhaps not noting the book in which the verium was used several paragraphs from the galaxy magazine were not separately captioned in that periodical titles being supplied by later editors these paragraphs are listed by these supplied titles some i have captioned myself but the searcher must not expect to find the articles in the galaxy or in memoranda under those exact captions printings in periodicals and newspapers appear with the month or day of printing appended nevada enterprise excepted and in italics the book printings having the year date only if only one book printing be given that may be either american or foreign issue reference to the title quoted must determine that if more than one book printing be given the first is invariably foreign the first actual book printing and the second american the first american book printing in each case i endeavor to give the first american edition even if it has been issued elsewhere previously but i do not give the foreign printing at all if the american is the real first the man that corrupted hadleyburg and the celebrated jumping frog are shortened for convenience to hadleyburg and jumping frog I have endeavored to cross-file thoroughly in order to cover every existing variation, so that the intent of the searcher may not be thwarted by introductory prepositions and the like.

Book titles have page references, but story titles must first be referred to the book indicated.

So, too, is that the story suggests that Trump, at least, might perceive that he has something to hold over Collins' head to keep her behind his actions, even when they have dramatically weakened her power at the head of appropriations.

The eighteen seventy-three novel The Gilded Age, A Tale of Today, by Charles Dudley Warner and Mark Twain that gave the late nineteenth century its nickname, was not about the riches of the industrialists who came to be known as robber barons.

It was about the political corruption of the era.

In the book, unscrupulous speculators bribed congressmen.

So we're watching that crack up.

But what really jumps out to me with this Susan Collins story is, I hate to get all literary here on you, but I'm going to, is the book, The Gilded Age, that was ghostwritten in the, I'm sorry, 1873, I think it was.

And it was ghostwritten in part by, well, it was Charles Dudley Warner and Mark Twain.

And And the whole point of that book, and mind you, Mark Twain had that sort of sour edge, you know, and certainly he did by then.

And Warner wasn't a very good writer.

So, I mean, it's not like, it's a classic book just because of what it says.

And everybody thinks that the book, The Gilded Age, is really about the...

the excesses, the financial excesses of the robber barons in the late 19th century, because that name gets pinned back on that era later on.

I wonder if I can take you back then to a few early moments.

So when I was traveling over the last few years for this road trip book, I spent a bunch of time in South Carolina.

And one of the places that I went in South Carolina was Beaufort and down into the Sea Islands to visit what has become this, I think we've mentioned, this new set of National Park Service sites devoted to reconstruction.

The first ever.

The very opposite of what Stevens is wanting.

And you

read them, and if you actually read, and that's in the book too, Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, you see crystal clarity.

His vision of states' rights is how the federal government should function.

But we've got the peace of mind part covered.

CHAPTER I. SAMUEL LANGHORN CLEMONS by CHARLES H. CLARK samuel langhorne clemens of hartford connecticut is known all over the world as mark twain his books have been translated into all the modern languages and his name has become a household word wherever people read he first acquired fame by his inimitable and irresistible humor but the position which he has taken is due not merely to his success as a humorist but to the genius of the man as displayed in various directions he has taken a leading place in literature in society and in business in america and his career is a most suggestive illustration of how the natural gifts of a man can conquer obstacles that seem impossible at the age of twelve years he was a penniless unschooled orphan at twenty an illiterate pilot on the mississippi and even at thirty he was entirely unknown and had written very little while at thirty-five he was famous and now past fifty a gentleman of culture each year adds to his fame and strengthens his position his was no accidental success for if so his light would have long ago gone out on the contrary his wit is as keen his humor as fresh his satire as sharp and his imagination as fantastic as when people first realized the power of these gifts that he possesses he was born in the little town of florida in monroe county missouri november thirtieth eighteen thirty five his father died in eighteen forty seven and the boy had thereafter to support himself his first work was as a printer and though he changed his occupation in a short time this beginning was no doubt influential in subsequently turning his mind to literary work as it has been with so many others at seventeen he decided to follow the mississippi river as a pilot and he learned the channel for thirteen hundred and seventy-five miles from st louis to new orleans many of his books reflect his observations and experiences there noticeably the life on the mississippi eighteen eighty three and it was from his life there that he took his pseudonym of mark twain which is a call relating to the sounding for the depth of water from the mississippi he went to nevada as private secretary for his elder brother who had been appointed lieutenant-governor of the territory there he drifted into mining and shared the experience of the many who make it a failure and are not heard of not of the few who make great fortunes in eighteen sixty two he was offered the place of local editor of the virginia city enterprise to which he had occasionally contributed he first used his signature of mark twain upon that journal in eighteen sixty four he went to san francisco still in newspaper work and wrote there occasional sketches which had in them the elements of popularity in eighteen sixty six he made a trip as a correspondent to the sandwich islands and when he returned he lectured in nevada and california his career so far abounded in variety but could hardly be called successful and gave but the slightest promise of what the next few years would reveal in the spring of eighteen sixty seven he went to new york and published there his first volume the celebrated jumping frog of calaveras and other sketches this sold well both at home and in england the choice humor of the jumping frog story was at once appreciated and the reputation of the author was established in that same year eighteen sixty seven mark twain sailed on the steamer quaker city on her journey to the holy land which journey is now famous because he made it in his innocents abroad he described the sights experiences emotions and characters of that singular and interesting trip it is one of the most widely read of all american books and deserves to be there is nothing like it except one or two of his later books and they are not like it through any repetition it is a remarkable book in many ways its humor is simply irrepressible and cannot be put down the reader may try to resist it and may even at first rule it out of order but you have to surrender to it and you laugh as you surrender and yet funny as it is it is also one of the most admirable descriptive works of travel that has been written people journeying over the same ground or seeking information as to any of the places mentioned find it very useful to consult for practical purposes it has had an immense sale and has been translated and printed in many languages roughing it eighteen seventy one and a tramp abroad eighteen eighty are of the same character in many respects but each has its individuality while they all have the individuality of the author stamped upon them mark twain's list of publications includes beside the jumping frog innocence abroad roughing it and a tramp abroad which have already been alluded to the gilded age by himself and charles dudley warner eighteen seventy three the adventures of tom sawyer eighteen seventy six sketches eighteen seventy seven the prince and the pauper eighteen eighty one the stolen white elephant eighteen eighty three life on the mississippi eighteen eighty three the adventures of huckleberry finn eighteen eighty five and a library of humor this last is a compilation of the characteristic works of american humorists in which all classes of such writers are included both the dead and the living it is a large volume and as the first is so large it may be followed by others of a similar nature a deal of reading and selecting was necessary in the preparation of the volume which though only now published was in great measure ready five years ago Mark Twain was aided in preparing it, so the writer understands, by Mr. W. D. Howells.

The story of the Gilded Age developed the unique character of Colonel Sellers, unique in letters but familiar in daily life, and the play of Colonel Sellers based on the story was worked out by Mark Twain and proved as great a success as his stories.

Already more than half a million, probably six hundred or seven hundred thousand, of Mark Twain's books have been sold in this country.

England and her colonies have taken half as many more, and the larger works have been translated into German, French, Italian, Norwegian, Danish, etc.

The prospective father-in-law wrote letters of inquiry to several residents of San Francisco to whom Clemens referred him, and with one exception the letters denounced him bitterly, especially deriding his capacity for becoming a good husband.

Mark sat beside his fiancée when the letters were read aloud by the old gentleman.

There was a dreadful silence for a moment, and then Mark stammered, "'Well, that's pretty rough on a fellow, anyhow.' His betrothed came to the rescue, however, and overturned the mass of testimony against him by saying, "'I'll risk you anyhow.' the terrible father-in-law lived in elmira new york and there mark was married he had told his friends in the newspaper office at buffalo to select him a suite of rooms in a first-class boarding-house in the city and to have a carriage at the depot to meet the bride and groom mark knew they would do it and gave himself no more anxiety about it when he reached buffalo he found a handsome carriage a beautiful span of horses and a driver in livery they drove him up to a handsome house on an aristocratic street and as the door was opened there were the parents of the bride to welcome them home the old folks had arrived on the quiet by special train after mark had gone through the house and examined its elegant finishings he was notified officially that he had been driven by his own coachman in his own carriage to his own house they say tears came to his wonderfully dark and piercing eyes and that all he could say was well this is a first-class not long after his marriage mark settled down in hartford and invested capital in insurance companies there his second book roughing it appeared in eighteen seventy one and had almost as large a sale as its predecessor he visited england a few months later and arranged for the publication of his works there in four volumes on his return he issued his third book in partnership with charles dudley warner which was styled the gilded age this was followed by the adventures of tom sawyer a book for boys in eighteen seventy six these books all commanded an immense sale and several editions have been exhausted the american publishing company of hartford represented these works in this country chatto and windus published them in england and mark's continental publisher was tauschnitz of leipzig among his other accomplishments clemens is a politician and has done good service on the stump for the republican party for all this he is the proud possessor of the title of honorable many of the most ludicrous scenes in the works of mark twain are taken from life the steamboat scene in the adventures of colonel sellers was witnessed by him when a young man his adventure with a dead man was in his father's office in missouri his description of the horror creeping over him as he saw a ghastly hand lying in the moonlight how he tried to shut his eyes and tried to count and opened them in time to see the dead man lying on the floor stiff and stark with a ghastly wound in his side and lastly how he beat a terrified retreat through the window carrying the sash with him is vividly remembered by every reader of the gilded age the whole thing occurred just as mark recorded it the man was killed in a street fight almost in front of mr clemens's door was taken in there while a post-mortem examination was held and there left until the next morning during the night mark came in and the scene described was enacted a writer in the san francisco chronicle wrote not many years since as follows there have been moments in the lives of various kind-hearted and respectable citizens of california and nevada when if mark twain were up before them as members of a vigilance committee for any mild crime such as mule-stealing or arson it is to be feared his shrift would have been short what a dramatic picture the idea conjures up to be sure mark before those honest men infuriated by his practical jokes trying to show them what an innocent creature he was when it came to mules or how the only policy of fire insurance he held had lapsed how void of guile he was in any direction and all with that inimitable drawl that perplexed countenance and the peculiar scraping back of the left foot like a boy speaking his first piece at school it is but fair to say that the fun that mark mixed up for citizens in those days was not altogether appreciated in the midst of it for some one touched too sharply surgibat mari aliquid and mark had another denouncer joined to the wounded throng he is keenly sensitive to sympathy or criticism and relates as one of the most harrowing experiences of his life a six hours ride across england his fellow-traveller an englishman who shortly after they started drew forth the first volume of the english edition of innocence abroad from his pocket and calmly perused it from beginning to end without a smile then he drew forth the second volume and read it as solemnly as the first mark says he thought he should die yet john bull was probably enjoying it after his own undemonstrative style in another instance the same writer says of mark twain this literary wag has performed some services which entitled him to the gratitude of his generation he has run the traditional sunday-school book boy through his literary mangle and turned him out washed and ironed into a proper state of flatness and collapse that whining canting early dying anmic creature was the nauseating model held up to the full-blooded mischievous lads of bygone years as worthy their imitation he poured his religious hypocrisy over every honest pleasure a boy had he whined his lachrymose warnings on every playground he vexed their lives so when mark grew old enough he went gunning for him and lo Wherever his soul may be, the skin of the strummest young pietist is now neatly tacked up to view on the Sunday-school door of to-day as a warning, and the lads of to-day see no particular charm in a priggish, hydropathical existence.

I had no idea.

It's named, kind of inspired by Mark Twain's 1873 novel, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today.

Uh-huh.

And I also didn't realize this.

Roughing It, 1871, and A Tramp Abroad, 1880, are of the same character in many respects, but each has its individuality, while they all have the individuality of the author stamped upon them.

Mark Twain's list of publications includes Beside the Jumping Frog, Innocence Abroad, Roughing It, and A Tramp Abroad, which have already been alluded to, The Gilded Age, by himself and Charles Dudley Warner, 1873, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 1876, Sketches, 1877, The Prince and the Pauper, 1881, The Stolen White Elephant, 1883, Life on the Mississippi, 1883, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885, and A Library of Humor, 1888.

This last is a compilation of the characteristic works of American humorists in which all classes of such writers are included, both the dead and the living.

It is a large volume, and as the first is so large it may be followed by others of a similar nature.

A deal of reading and selecting was necessary in the preparation of the volume, which though only now published was in great measure ready five years ago.

Mark Twain was aided in preparing it, so the writer understands, by Mr. W.D. Howells.

The story of The Gilded Age developed the unique character of Colonel Sellers, unique in letters but familiar in daily life, and the play of Colonel Sellers based on the story was worked out by Mark Twain and proved as great a success as his stories.

Already more than half a million, probably six hundred or seven hundred thousand, of Mark Twain's books have been sold in this country.