August 6, 2012 7:14 am
Mark Twain was Secretly A Geek, and Here’s Footage to Prove It
Mark Twain. Left: Photographed by Life Magazine. Right, in Tesla’s Lab, photographed by Wutz
In the long tradition of awesome people hanging out with each other, this is a video of Mark Twain made by Thomas Edison. In fact, it’s the only footage of Twain that we know of.
The film is silent, and that’s how Twain will remain to history – sadly, no recordings exist of the famous author’s voice. But it’s not for lack of trying on Twain’s part. In 1891 Twain attempted to dictate his novella “An American Claimant.” But after burning through 48 wax cylinders in the phonograph, he gave up. Those 48 cylinders are now lost. He tried again in 1909 at Edison’s lab, but those recordings were lost in a 1914 fire.
It turns out that hanging out with Thomas Edison wasn’t the only way in which Twain was a nerd. He was also friends with Nikola Tesla, and hung out in his lab from time to time. He even patented a few things. His first patent, #121,992, was granted on December 18th, 1871, for detachable clothing straps.
Twain even kind-of predicted the internet in one of his science fiction stories (yes, Mark Twain wrote science fiction). The story, published in the London Times, included a “telelectrosope” phone system that shared information through a network. Through that telelectroscope, he writes, “the daily doings of the globe made visible to everybody, and audibly discussable too, by witnesses separated by any number of leagues.” Sound familiar?
At Berkeley, researchers have spent the last 36 years gathering every piece of writing the author ever produced. That means two dozen volumes and 15,000 pages of work.
All that work, and his classic, biting, style, makes Twain one of the most iconic writers in American history. So iconic that last year Google dedicated a Doodle to him:
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![Life Magazine](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mark_Twain_by_James_Mapes_Dodge,_1890.jpg"){kind=link}
the telectroscope was not Twains science fiction, but in fact the brain child of Nikola Tesla, and his focus on the telectroscope is why we do not have Tesla’s name attached to tv or radio as these were small milestones to his grand vision.
Comment by mark — August 6, 2012 @ 6:57 pm
We know what he sounds like.
He sounds like Hal Holbrook.
Comment by shthar — August 7, 2012 @ 9:21 pm
Interesting to see such old footage.
Comment by Pamela — August 8, 2012 @ 1:16 pm
I think Drake got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Either that or he has a personal vendetta against the author.
Comment by NotLegalCounsel — August 8, 2012 @ 2:30 pm
If we are really monitoring this website can we remove the cuss words sent in by Drake?
Comment by Offended — August 8, 2012 @ 3:17 pm
“a video of Mark Twain?”
How sad that an institution revered for zealous dedication to proper technical classification could publish such an obvious error. This footage is probably digitized from an Edison Kinetoscope reel. It is in no way a “video” recording.
#Smithsonianfail.
Or, #EmbarassingEditing.
Comment by Mike N — August 8, 2012 @ 3:36 pm
“The Only Footage of Mark Twain in Existence”
Don’t you mean, “the only footage in existence of Mark Twain’???
Comment by Dylann — August 8, 2012 @ 4:05 pm
Both captions identify the picture on the “left” … Is that some kind of science fiction?
Comment by H. Scott — August 8, 2012 @ 8:01 pm
Hi there,
Yep, that one slipped through the cracks here. We’ll remove it now. Thanks for pointing it out!
Rose
Comment by Rose Eveleth — August 8, 2012 @ 9:55 pm
Whoops, fixed now! Thanks!
Rose
Comment by Rose Eveleth — August 8, 2012 @ 9:56 pm
Fascinating. While he’s definitely easier to see in the photos taken of him they don’t show his walk. That was a thrill to watch.
However, there’s an error in the sentence “He tried again in 1909 at Edison’s lab, but those recording were lost in a 1914 fire.” It should either be that recording or those recordings.
Comment by Sela — August 9, 2012 @ 1:45 am
If someone took the time, it might be possible to reconstruct aspects of Twain’s voice and manner of speaking by scientifically analyzing the moving images of Twain’s face and throat in the film. Add this info to what we have described regarding his voice from historical sources or his regional dialect, and maybe his voice could be reconstructed.
Comment by Scott — August 11, 2012 @ 12:50 am
Lip readers can often read silent film. What’s Twain saying?? He is talking up a storm.
Comment by Scott — August 11, 2012 @ 12:57 am
Mark Twain was never “secretive” in his internest in technology. He pursued many patents and inventions, some to his finacial detriment. It is great to see Sam Clements but such a loss that we cannot hear his Missouri twang.
Comment by Kevin — August 11, 2012 @ 8:50 am
Great video, though I think I’ve seen it before on a documentary of Twain. I do wish the framerate could be adjusted to make his walking speed closer to what it really was, it’s too fast here. But that’s just nitpicking, haha.
Comment by Jess Q. — August 11, 2012 @ 2:32 pm
…AWSOME!!!…What a surprise to see this wonderful writer in action!…Alive and Kicking with his daughters. Technology amazes me!…And its advances!. So much for that!. Amen!.
Thanx!.~
Comment by JUJU — August 11, 2012 @ 3:46 pm