Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 December 1879 — Mark Twain’s Plagiarism. [ARTICLE]

Mark Twain’s Plagiarism.

Even Mark Twain, whose individuality was supposed to be decidedly marked, is a plagiarist. He admits it. He even boasts it. At the breakfast given to Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Twain made an open confession: “ When my first book was new a friend of mine said: ‘ The dedication is very neat.’ Yes, I said, I thought it was. My friend said : ‘ I always admired it, even before I saw it in the “ Innocents Abroad.” ’ I naturally said, ‘ What do you mean? Where did you ever see it before?’ ‘ Well, I saw it first some years ago, as Mr. Holmes’ dedication to his “Songs in Many Keys.’” Of course my first impulse was to prepare this man’s remains for burial, but upon reflection I said I would reprieve him for a moment or two, and give him a chance to prove his assertion if he could. We stepped into a hook-store, and he did prove it. I had really stolen that dedication almost word for word. I could not imagine how this curious thing had happened. For I knew one thing for a dead certainty: That a certain amount of pride always goes along with a teaspoonful of brains, and that this pride protects a man from deliberately stealing other people’s ideas. That is what a teaspoonful of brains will do for a man; and admirers had often told me I had nearly a basketful, though they were rather reserved as to the size of the basket.” Twain gave an explanation, the usual one. He had read Holmes’ poems until he was entirely saturated with their flavor, and he unconsciously stole the dedication. “Perhaps,” adds Twain, “ I unconsciously stole the rest of the volume, too, for many people have told me that my book was pretty poetical, in one way or another.” The offender wrote to Dr. Holmes explaining his feat of grand larceny, and received a much kinder reply than Dr. Parker gave Dr. Lorimer. “ I afterward called on him,” Mark adds, “ and told him to make perfectly free with any ideas of mine that struck him as being good protoplasm for poetry. He could see from that that there wasn’t anything mean about me; so we got along right from the spot.” —Chicago Times.