Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Karanovich, Nicholas
- Abstract:
- The collection contains 130 photographs reproduced from the original nitrate negatives of James B. Pond’s photographs of Mark Twain on his North American Lecture Tour, accompanied by his wife and daughter, Olivia Langdon Clemens and Clara Clemens as well as by Major Pond’s wife, Marion Glass Pond. The collection includes a copy of James B. Pond’s typescript draft of his account of Mark Twain in “Eccentricities of Genius” and a typescript copy of his journal from the tour.
- Language:
- English
Background
- Scope and Content:
The bulk of this collection has been published in Overland with Mark Twain: James B. Pond’s Photographs and Journal of the North American Lecture Tour of 1895, published by the Center of Mark Twain Studies in 1992 and containing 130 photographs reproduced from the original nitrate negatives of James B. Pond’s photographs of Mark Twain on his North American Lecture Tour, accompanied by his wife and daughter, Olivia Langdon Clemens and Clara Clemens as well as by Major Pond as the lecture manager, and his wife, Marion Glass Pond. The collection includes a copy of James B. Pond’s typescript draft of his account of Mark Twain used in “Eccentricities of Genius” and a typescript copy of his journal from the tour. Also included are notes, research materials and photocopied images containing additional information that were additional resources used in the publication of the Overland with Mark Twain.
- Biographical / Historical:
The bankruptcy of the Charles L. Webster Company in 1894 and the failure of the outperformed Paige Compositor typesetting machine, Mark Twain’s principle business ventures, placed Twain in an difficult financial position. Twain under pressures from creditor’s and family responsibilities conceived of a global lecture tour to settle his debts.
James B. Pond, a successful lecture manager was hired for the North American leg of the tour. Pond’s photographs and private journal are largely responsible for documenting the North American leg of the tour that went largely undocumented in Following the Equator, Mark Twain’s travelogue of the experience.
The photographs and journals follow the entourage from Cleveland, Ohio, July 15th to Vancouver, British Columbia, August 23, 1895. Major Pond, Martha and son, Bim, visit Quarry Farm on the return trip, where photographs of Susan Crane, Charles Langdon, Susy Clemens and Jean Clemens are captured on September 15, 1895
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
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unrestricted.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
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unrestricted.
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