\"Inthematterofhumor，\"wroteClemens，referringtoHay’sdeliciousnotes，\"whatanunsurpassabletouchJohnHayhad！\"

HUMORATWESTPOINT

Thefirstprintingof1601inactualbookformwas\"DonneatyeAcademiePress，in1882，WestPoint，NewYork，underthesupervisionofLieut。C。

E。S。Wood，thenadjutantoftheU。S。MilitaryAcademy。

In1882MarkTwainandJoeTwichellvisitedtheirfriendLieut。WoodatWestPoint，wheretheylearnedthatWood，asAdjutant，hadunderhiscontrolasmallprintingestablishment。OnMark’sreturntoHartford，WoodreceivedaletteraskingifhewoulddoMarkagreatfavorbyprintingsomethinghehadwritten，whichhedidnotcaretoentrusttotheordinaryprinter。Woodrepliedthathewouldbegladtooblige。

OnApril3，1882，Marksentthemanuscript：

\"Ienclosetheoriginalof1603[sic]asyousuggest。Iamafraidthereareerrorsinit，also，heedlessnessinantiquatedspelling——e’sstuckonoftenatendofwordswheretheyarenotstricklynecessary，etc……

IwouldgothroughthemanuscriptbutIamtoomuchdrivenjustnow，anditisnotimportantanyway。Iwishyouwoulddomethekindnesstomakeanyandallcorrectionsthatsuggestthemselvestoyou。

Sincerelyyours，S。L。Clemens。\"

CharlesErskineScottWoodrecalledinaforeword，whichhewroteforthelimitededitionof1601issuedbytheGrabhornPress，howhefeltwhenhefirstsawtheoriginalmanuscript。\"WhenIreadit，\"writesWood，\"Ifeltthatthecharacterofitwouldbecarriedalittlebetterbyaprintingwhichpretendedtotheeyethatitwascontemporaneouswiththepretended’conversation。’

\"IwroteMarkthatforliteraryeffectIthoughtthereshouldbeaspeciesofforgery，thoughofcoursetherewasnoefforttoactuallydeceiveascholar。MarkansweredthatImightdoasIliked；——thathisonlyobjectwastosecureanumberofcopies，asthedemandforitwasbecomingburdensome，buthewouldbeverygratefulforanyinterestI

broughttothedoing。

\"Well，Tucker[foremanoftheprintingshop]andIsoakedsomehandmadelinenpaperinweakcoffee，putitasawetbundleintoawarmroomtomildew，driedittoadampnessapprovedbyTuckerandheprintedthe’copy’onahandpress。IhadspecialpunchescutforsuchElizabethanabbreviationsasthea，e，oandu，whenfollowedbymorn——andforthe（commonlyandstupidlypronouncedye）。

\"TheonlyeditingIdidwasastothespellingandafewoldEnglishwordsintroduced。Thespelling，ifIremembercorrectly，ismine，butthetextisexactlyaswrittenbyMark。Iwroteaskinghisviewofmakingthespellingoftheperiodandhewasenthusiastic——tellingmetodowhateverIthoughtbestandhewasgreatlypleasedwiththeresult。\"

ThuswasprintedinadeluxeeditionoffiftycopiesthemostcuriousmasterpieceofAmericanhumor，atoneofAmerica’smostdignifiedinstitutions，theUnitedStatesMilitaryAcademyatWestPoint。

\"1601wassobe—praisedbythearchaeologicalscholarsofaquarterofacenturyago，\"wroteClemensinhislettertoCharlesOrr，\"thatIwasratherinordinatelyvainofit。Atthattimeithadbeenprivatelyprintedinseveralcountries，amongthemJapan。Asumptuouseditiononlargepaper，rough—edged，wasmadebyLieut。C。E。S。WoodatWestPoint——aneditionof50copies——anddistributedamongpopesandkingsandsuchpeople。InEnglandcopiesofthatissuewereworthtwentyguineaswhenI

wastheresixyearsago，andnonetobehad。\"

FROMTHEDEPTHS

MarkTwain’sirreverenceshouldnotbemisinterpreted：itwasanirreverencewhichbubbledupfromadeep，passionateinsightintothewell—springsofhumannature。In1601，asin’TheManThatCorruptedHadleyburg，’andin’TheMysteriousStranger，’hetorethemasksoffhumanbeingsandleftthemcringingbeforethepublicview。WiththedeftnessofamastersurgeonClemensdealtwithhumanemotionsanddelightedinexposinghumannatureintheraw。

ThespiritandthelanguageoftheFiresideConversationwererooteddeepinMarkTwain’snatureandinhislife，asC。E。S。Wood，whoprinted1601atWestPoint，haspertinentlyobserved，\"IfImadeaguessastotheintellectualfermentoutofwhich1601roseIwouldsaythatMark’sintellectualstructureandsubconsciousgrainingwasfromAnglo—SaxonsasprimitiveasthecommonmanoftheTudorperiod。

HecamefromthebanksoftheMississippi——fromtheflatboatmen，pilots，roustabouts，farmersandvillagefolkofarude，primitivepeople——asLincolndid。

\"HewasfinishedintheminingcampsoftheWestamongstagedrivers，gamblersandthemenof’49。Thesimpleroughnessofafrontierpeoplewasinhisbloodandbrain。

\"Wordsvulgarandoffensivetootherearswereacommonlanguagetohim。

AnyonewhoeverknewMarkheardhimusethemfreely，forcibly，picturesquelyinhisunrestrainedconversation。Suchlanguageisforcibleasallprimitivewordsare。Refinementseemstomakeforweakness——orletussayacuttingedge——buttheoldvulgarmonosyllabicwordsbitliketheblowofapioneer’sax——andMarkwaslikethat。ThenIthink1601cameoutofMark’sinstinctivehumor，satireandhatredofpuritanism。Butthereismorethanthis；withallitshumorthereisasenseofrealdelightinwhatmaybecalledobscenityforitsownsake。

WhitmanandtheBiblearenomoreobscenethanNatureherself——nomoreobscenethanamanurepile，outofwhichcomerosesandcherries。Everywordusedin1601wasusedbyourownrudepioneersasapartoftheirvocabulary——andnowordwaseverinventedbymanwithobsceneintent，butonlyaslanguagetoexpresshismeaning。Noactofnatureisobsceneinitself——butwhensuchwordsandactsaredraggedinforanulteriorpurposetheybecomeoffensive，aseverythingoutofplaceisoffensive。

Ithinkhedelighted，too，inshocking——givingresoundingslapsonwhatChaucerwouldquitesimplycall’thebareerse。’\"

QuiteasidefromthisChaucerian\"erse\"slapping，Clemenshadalsoasemi—seriouspurpose，thatofreproducingapasttimeashesawitinShakespeare，Dekker，Jonson，andotherwritersoftheElizabethanera。

FiresideConversationwasanexerciseinscholarshipilluminedbyakeensenseofcharacter。Itwasmadeespeciallyeffectivebytheartisticarrangementofwidely—gatheredmaterialintoacompressedpictureofaphaseofthemannersandeventhemindsofthemenandwomen\"inthespacioustimesofgreatElizabeth。\"

MarkTwainmadeof1601averysmartandfascinatingperformance，carriedoveralmosttogrotesquenessjusttoshowitwasnotdoneformeredelightinthefranknaturalismofthefunctionswithwhichitdeals。

ThatMarkTwainhadmadeconsiderablestudyofthisfranknessisapparentfromchapterfourof’AYankeeAtKingArthur’sCourt，’wherehereferstotheconversationatthefamousRoundTablethus：

\"Manyofthetermsusedinthemostmatter—of—factwaybythisgreatassemblageofthefirstladiesandgentlemenofthelandwouldhavemadeaComancheblush。Indelicacyistoomildatermtoconveytheidea。

However，IhadreadTomJonesandRoderickRandomandotherbooksofthatkindandknewthatthehighestandfirstladiesandgentlemeninEnglandhadremainedlittleornocleanerintheirtalk，andinthemoralsandconductwhichsuchtalkimplies，clearuptoonehundredyearsago；infactclearintoourownnineteenthcentury——inwhichcentury，broadlyspeaking，theearliestsamplesoftherealladyandtherealgentlemandiscoverableinEnglishhistory，——orinEuropeanhistory，forthatmatter——maybesaidtohavemadetheirappearance。SupposeSirWalter[Scott]insteadofputtingtheconversationintothemouthsofhischaracters，hadallowedthecharacterstospeakforthemselves？WeshouldhavehadtalkfromRebeccaandIvanhoeandthesoftladyRowenawhichwouldembarrassatrampinourday。However，totheunconsciouslyindelicateallthingsaredelicate。\"

MarkTwain’sinterestinhistoryandinthedepictionofhistoricalperiodsandcharactersisrevealedthroughhisfondnessforhistoricalreadinginpreferencetofiction，andthroughhisotherhistoricalwritings。Eveninthehilarious，youthfuldaysinSanFrancisco，Painereportsthat\"Clemens，however，wasneverquitereadyforsleep。Then，asever，hewouldprophimselfupinbed，lighthispipe，andlosehimselfinEnglishorFrenchhistoryuntilhissleepconquered。\"Painetellsus，too，thatLecky’s’EuropeanMorals’wasanoldfavorite。

Thenotesto’ThePrinceandthePauper’showagainhowcarefullyClemensexaminedhishistoricalbackground，andhisinterestinthesematerials。

Someofthemoreimportantsourcesarenoted：Hume’s’HistoryofEngland’，Timbs’’CuriositiesofLondon’，J。HammondTrumbull’s’BlueLaws，TrueandFalse’。ApparentlyMarkTwainrelishedit，forasBernardDeVotopointsout，\"ThebookisalwaysMarkTwain。ItsparodiesofTudorspeechlapsesometimesintoacallowsatisfactioninthatidiom——Markhugelyenjoyshisnathlessesandbeshrewsandmarrys。\"Thewritingof1601foreshadowshisfondnessforthistreatment。

\"DoyousupposethelibertiesandtheBrawnofTheseStateshavetodoonlywithdelicatelady—words？withglovedgentlemanwords\"

WaltWhitman，’AnAmericanPrimer’。

Although1601wasnotmatchedbyanysimilarsketchinhispublishedworks，itwasrepresentativeofMarkTwaintheman。Hewasnoemaciatedliterarytea—tosser。BronzedandweatherbeatensonoftheWest，Markwasaman’sman，andthatsignificantfactisemphasizedbytheseveralphasesofMark’srichlifeassteamboatpilot，printer，miner，andfrontierjournalist。

OntheVirginiaCityEnterpriseMarklearnedfromeditorR。M。Daggettthat\"whenitwasnecessarytocallamannames，therewerenoexpletivestoolongortooexpressivetobehurledinrapidsuccessiontoemphasizetheutterwantofcharacterofthemanassailed……ThereweretypesetterstherewhocouldhurlanathemasatbadcopywhichwouldhavefrightenedaBengaltiger。Thenewseditorcoulddamnamutilateddispatchintwenty—fourlanguages。\"

InSanFranciscointhesizzlingsixtieswecatchaglimpseofMarkTwainandhisbuddy，SteveGillis，pausingindoorwaystosing\"TheDolefulBalladoftheNeglectedLover，\"anoldpieceofuncollectederotica。

Onemorning，whenadogbegantohowl，Steveawoke\"tofindhisroom—matestandinginthedoorthatopenedoutintoabackgarden，holdingabigrevolver，hishandshakingwithcoldandexcitement，\"relatesPaineinhisBiography。

\"’Comehere，Steve，’hesaid。’I’msochilledthroughIcan’tgetabeadonhim。’

\"’Sam，’saidSteve，’don’tshoothim。Justswearathim。Youcaneasilykillhimatanyrangewithyourprofanity。’

\"SteveGillisdeclaresthatMarkTwainletgosuchascorching，singeingblastthatthebrute’sownersoldhimthenextdayforaMexicanhairlessdog。\"