Collections & Finding Aids
MARK TWAIN COLLECTION
The Mark Twain Collection is an assemblage of materials on the life, times and legacy of Mark Twain with a focus on Twain’s association with the city of Elmira, NY. Primarily a secondary resource, the collection provides microfilm access to the correspondence, manuscripts, diaries and clippings of several Twain collecting repositories as well as on-site access to a growing collection of published books, scholarly articles, research files and ephemera. The modest collection of primary-source materials are comprised of letters, photographs, chapters and short story manuscripts and Langdon family related materials including artifacts from Quarry Farm and the Langdon mansion.
OTHER COLLECTIONS AND FINDING AIDS
HOWARD BAETZHOLD PAPERS
The bulk of the Howard Baetzhold papers are comprised of correspondence that concern the academic pursuits and accomplishments of members of the Mark Twain scholarly community. The correspondence contains little in the way of scholarship and primarily focuses on Baetzhold’s professional and personal relationships within Mark Twain studies.
LOUIS J. BUDD PAPERS AND COLLECTION OF MARK TWAIN RESOURCES
The bulk of the papers are comprised of Lou Budd’s collection of Mark Twain caricatures, interviews and reviews. Correspondence and materials related to his tenure as trustee at the Mark Twain Memorial for the years 1992-1999 are the extent of materials related to Budd’s professional life. The collection contains the manuscript and research for one scholarly article, Seeing Double Can Be Twice as Clear: Mark Twain’s Impersonators.
CYRIL CLEMENS COLLECTION
The collection is comprised of facsimiles of portions of the Cyril Clemens Collection owned by the Mark Twain House and Museum, Hartford, Connecticut. The collection contains correspondence between Mark Twain and family, friends and contemporaries. The collection also contains the correspondence of Cyril Clemens, primarily in regard to his interest in Mark Twain and his position as founder and president of the International Mark Twain Society and editor of the Mark Twain Quarterly/Mark Twain Journal.
SUSAN CRANE COLLECTION OF MATERIALS RELATED TO THOMAS K. BEECHER
The small collection is comprised of materials collected by Susan Crane pertaining to her friend and pastor of the Park Church in Elmira, N.Y., Thomas K. Beecher. The collection contains letters from Thomas K. Beecher to Susan and Theodore Crane and James L. Wood and includes a book of clipped sermons delivered by Beecher, pamphlets, and photographs of Beecher published by the Park Church and local newspapers.
DAVID FEARS RESEARCH MATERIAL FOR MARK TWAIN: DAY BY DAY
David H. Fears research materials for “Mark Twain: Day by Day” are primarily facsimiles with Fears’ handwritten accounts of chronology. The fairly small scope of the collection suggests that it is not a complete collection of Fears’ research for the extensive four volume publication of “Mark Twain: Day by Day.” The collection provides access to unpublished materials related to Twain’s later years as well as demonstrates Fears’ process of gathering and synthesizing the research material into the published volumes 2, 3, and 4.
NICK KARANOVICH COLLECTION OF JAMES B. POND'S PHOTOGRAPHS AND JOURNAL FROM MARK TWAIN'S NORTH AMERICAN LECTURE TOUR OF 1895
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 Twain’s 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.
MICHAEL KISKIS PAPERS
The bulk of this collection contains Michael Kiskis's research as a Mark Twain Scholar while teaching at Elmira College, including scholarly articles, lectures, and academic presentations. The collection further includes Kiskis's work as a student.
CHARLES LANGDON FAMILY COLLECTION OF KODAK NEGATIVES
The collection contains six sets of negatives captured by the Langdon family between 1889 and 1891. Three sets of negatives are of the Langdon family European vacation, 1889-1890. The remaining sets of negatives capture life in Elmira and at Quarry Farm, taken during the later period of the annual Clemens family summer vacations in Elmira.
KATY LEARY’S COLLECTION OF BOOK S FROM MARK TWAIN’S LIBRARY
After Samuel Clemens’ death in 1910, Clara Clemens Samossoud and Katy Leary, a native of Elmira, N.Y., and trusted family servant for over thirty years, closed Mark Twain’s final home in Redding, Connecticut called “Stormfield.” Clara permitted Katy Leary to select books from Twain’s personal library as keepsakes. Many of the books contain inscriptions, signatures, notes and markings by Samuel Clemens.
WILLIAM T. LOVE COLLECTION OF MARK TWAIN LETTERS, SIGNATURES AND PHOTOGRAPHS
The collection is comprised of 16 framed letters, photographs and signatures of Mark Twain on permanent display in the Mark Twain Room of the Gannett-Tripp Library, Elmira College, Elmira, N.Y.
TOM TENNEY COLLECTION OF MARK TWAIN NEWS CLIPPINGS
The collection is comprised of news clippings of Mark Twain from 1872-1912. The bulk of the materials concerns Mark Twain’s later years, primarily documenting the coverage of Twain’s honorary Doctorate of Letters from Oxford University and Twain’s death in U.S. and British newspapers in 1910.
JOHN TUCKEY PAPERS
The bulk of the John Tuckey papers are research materials associated with Mark Twain’s later years focusing on Twain’s lesser-known works, most of which remained unpublished at the time of his death. The papers contain manuscripts, correspondence and research notes for many of Tuckey’s published works and scholarly articles. Research notes and short manuscripts associated with Tuckey’s career spanning interpretative study of Mark Twain’s later works are a highlight of the collection.
MARK TWAIN MARGINALIA FROM BOOKS IN THE CRANE AND LANGDON LIBRARY AT QUARRY FARM
The collection consists of 47 volumes from the Crane and Langdon Library at Quarry Farm, Elmira, N.Y., containing Mark Twain’s inscriptions, notes and/or writings inside the books. Books containing only markings and suspected to have been written by Clemens are also included.
HERBERT WISBEY PAPERS
The papers document Herb Wisbey’s tenure as the Director of the Center of Mark Twain Studies from its inception in 1983 to 1986. The collection contains research materials for many of his published articles, primarily for those published in the Mark Twain Society Bulletin. Correspondence, Mark Twain research materials and a research file of predominantly local figures comprise the collection.