Mark Twain and Male Friendship: The Twichell, Howells, and Rogers Friendships

269 Pages·2009·2.44 MB·English

by  Peter B. Messent

Mark Twain and Male Friendship
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MARK TWAIN AND MALE
FRIENDSHIP
The Twichell, Howells, and Rogers Friendships
Peter Messent
1
2009
3
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Messent,PeterB.
MarkTwainandMaleFriendship:theTwichell,HowellsandRogers
Friendships/PeterMessent.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN 978-0-19-539116-9
1.Twain,Mark,1835–1910—Friendsandassociates. 2. Authors,
American—19thcentury—Biography. 3. Twichell,JosephHopkins,
1838–1918—Friendsandassociates. 4. Howells,WilliamDean,
1837–1920—Friendsandassociates. 5. Rogers,HenryHuttleston,
1840–1909—Friendsandassociates. 6. Malefriendship—United
States—History. I.Title.
PS1333.M472009
8180.409—dc22
[B]
2009001727
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
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Acknowledgments
I
owe thanks to a number of Twain scholars for their help at various
stages of this book. Lou Budd and Peter Stoneley read the whole
manuscript late on, and their willingness to perform this (thankless)
task, valuable feedback, and the positive and generous nature of their
responses are all greatly appreciated. Both must, in fact, be doubly
thanked.Louhadalreadyreadandcommentedonanumberofthechap-
tersatanearlierstage,andPeterhadpreviouslyreadoveraformerversion
of chapter 6. Thanks, too, to Steve Courtney—the author of the new
biography, Joseph Hopkins Twichell: The Life and Times of Mark Twain’s
Closest Friend—for his extremely generous help as I researched the Twi-
chellpapers,andforhiscommentsondraftversionsofthechaptersonthe
Clemens-Twichellrelationship.ThanksalsotoVicFischerandRobertH.
Hirst for their (equally generous) assistance in identifying and checking
materialintheMarkTwainPapersand,alongwiththerestoftheirteam,
in making me feel so welcome as I did my research there. Bob and the
scholars working with him know just about everything there is to know
about Clemens, and share that knowledge with both enthusiasm and
exceptional generosity. They—and all the academics and specialists I
mention here—have been the very model of collegiality. Neda Salem,
also a member of the Mark Twain Papers and Project, deserves special
mention. She was endlessly patient and helpful when I was working in
Berkeleyasshesoughtoutthemanyletters,manuscripts,andfilesIasked
to see, and on several occasion saved my bacon in finding material that
I could not exactly reference. She also answered my e-mail queries with
exemplaryspeedandefficiency.OthermembersoftheTwaincommunity
who helped me at various stages of the book include Hal Bush, David
H.Fears,ShelleyFisherFishkin,ForrestRobinson,andBarbaraSchmidt.
My brother, Philip Messent, who works in the field of family therapy,
offered valuable feedback from a very different professional angle on a
version of chapter6. The comments ofone of my immediate colleagues,
GrahamThompson,whoreadoveradraftversionofchapter1,werevery
helpful indeed. Another colleague, John Fagg, assisted me with just the
rightbibliographicalinformationasIwrote(briefly)onGeorgeBellowsin
chapter7.MythankstootoCarolynLongworthoftheMillicentLibrary,
Fairhaven,particularlyforsendingmecopiesofthetwoDiasbooksrefer-
encedinmyworkonHenryH.Rogers.Ialsothank thelibrariansatthe
BeineckeRareBook&ManuscriptLibraryatYale,theHoughtonLibrary
of the Harvard College Library, and the Connecticut State Library Ar-
chivesfor their help. (Inthecaseof alltheresearch centers Iused—and
whererelevant—Iwouldliketorecognize,andgivethanksfor,thepermis-
sions to publish that have been granted me). I acknowledge, too, the
supportofmycolleaguesintheSchoolofAmericanandCanadianStudies
at the University of Nottingham (England), and especially of the then
HeadofSchool,JudieNewman.Iamluckytoworkinsuchanintellectu-
allystimulatingenvironment.IwouldalsoliketothankBrendanO’Neill
(assistanteditor)andGwenColvin(productioneditor),ofOxfordUniver-
sityPress—togetherwithanyothersinvolved—fortheirenthusiasticassis-
tance in preparing this book for publication. Any faults in this book are
minealone,andshouldnotbelaidatthedoorofanyoftheabove.
IreceivedfundingasIworkedtocompletethisbookandacknowledge
thatgratefullyhere.TheBritishAcademyawardedmeanumberofsmall
grantsenablingmetoconductmyarchiveresearchintheUnitedStates.
IalsothanktheArtsandHumanitiesResearchCouncilforamatchingleave
that proved crucial inhelpingthebooktocompletion. Earlier versions of
chapters3,5,and6appearedinNineteenth-CenturyLiterature,Blackwell’sA
CompaniontoMarkTwain,andArizonaQuarterlyrespectively.Iamgrateful
totherelevantpublishersforpermissiontoreprintthemhere.
Myfieldofstudygivesmetheopportunitytoacknowledgesomeofmy
ownclosemalefriendships.Iamawarethatthese,too,aresubjecttothe
types of conditioning factors noted in the friendships examined in this
book, but this does not affect their importance or their worth. I was
fortunate,atanearlystageinmylife,tohavemadegoodfriendsatschool
who have remained close—despite occasional periods of relatively little
contact or communication—throughout adulthood. John Clements in
particular has been the best of friends: loyal, unselfish, and charismatic
both in and outside his work (as a clinical psychologist in the caring
services). As we get older, so we get tamer in certain ways, and maybe
our previous late-night, and bourbon-fueled, conversations happen only
rarelynow.But,whatevertheoccasion,wecanalwaysrelaxineachother’s
company—surelytheverysignofclosefriendship—andalwaysenjoyour
time together. Roger Kelly, Joe Khan, Martin Kimber, Jim MacDonald,
and Mike Willson complete this particular round-up of ex-Wimbledon
Collegefriends.FrommyUniversitydaysatManchesterIhavestayedclose
toPhilMelling,fanaticWiganrugbyleaguesupporterand—impressively—
founding organiser (with his wife Sue) of Study Guatemala, a charity
providingfreeeducationtodisadvantagedchildreninthatcountry.Imust
alsomentionGodfreyKearns,whotaughtPhilandmeatUniversity,andwho
vi Acknowledgments
remainsagoodfriend,thoughweseeeachotherfartooinfrequently.Ihave
been lucky, as I have suggested, in my University Department colleagues,
particularlyDavidMurraywho—inallmytimeatNottingham(somethirty-
fiveyears)—hasbeenasupportive,warm-hearted,andwittyclosefriend.He
haschangedmyviewofLiverpoolF.C.supporters.RichardKing,PeterLing,
andDouglasTallack,too,havebeengoodfriendsandcolleagues.Alongwith
Dave, their contribution to my own education over the years, and to the
discipline of American Studies,has been considerable. My brothers, Andy
and Phil, have become ever closer and more important to me, especially
followingthedeathsofourparents,JohnandRosa.Alongwithmydearsister
MaryandcousinAlexAnderson,theytoohavebeenhighlysupportiveinall
aspects of my life. I am pleased to think of my son William—now in his
thirties and a talented and generous young man—as a friend too. Other
past close friends—Peter Morris and Charles Gregory (Greg)—are now
dead, but remain much missed. John Harvey is very much alive and still
writinghisexcellentcrimefiction.Itisimpossibletolistallthoseotherswho
fallintothecategoryoffriends:Ihopethosenotmentionedwillnotcrossme
fromtheiraddressbooks.
Finally, I must acknowledge the importance of my immediate family.
Alice, my daughter, and Sam, her husband, along with William, are of
course very special to me, as are my stepdaughters Leah and Ella. I am
proudofthemall.ButIdedicatethisbooktoCarin,mylong-sufferingbut
lovingwife—withallmylove.
Acknowledgments vii
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Contents
Introduction 3
1 MaleFriendshipandPost-CivilWarAmerica 15
2 ClemensandTwichell 39
3 Clemens,Twichell,andReligion 63
4 “MyDear’Owells”:ClemensandHowells 83
5 Clemens,Howells,andRealism 105
6 Clemens,Manhood,theRogersFriendship,and“WhichWas
theDream?” 125
7 ClemensandRogers:“BothMembersofThisClub” 141
Coda:Friendship’sLimits:FathersandDaughters 157
Notes 171
Index 239