To
Louis J. Jennings
26 April 1875 • Hartford, Conn.
(MS and transcript: DFo and New York Times, 29 Apr 75, UCCL 01226)
slc
Apl. 26.
L. J. Jennings, Esq1
Dear Sir:
Will you print the enclosed? And cannot you push it along a little, now & then, editorially? I hope you The Times will also consent to receive & forward subscriptions. Mr. C. E. Flower, who donates the ground is the same gentleman whose liberal cash mainly carried the [Shaksperian] [tri-centennial] through—though I know he would not like to have that mentioned.2
The matron at Shakspeare’s house also told me the curious Barnum fact, if my memory serves me.
Yrs Truly
Samℓ. L. Clemens
P. S.—If you think a Memorial Committee of Editors & business men,
[enclosure:]
To the Editor of the New-York Times:
I have just received a letter from an English friend of mine, whose hospitality I enjoyed some days at his house, in Stratford-on-Avon, [&] I feel sure that the matter he writes about will interest Americans. He incloses a circular, which I will insert in this place:3
“A preliminary committee was recently formed for the purpose of ascertaining the possibility of carrying out the project of a Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-on-Avon, the old theatre in the town having been purchased and pulled down by Mr. J. O. Halliwell Phillips for the purpose of restoring the site to ‘New Place,’ and completing those gardens.4 A meeting was held at the Town Hall on Monday, to receive the committee’s report. Sir Robert N. C. Hamilton, Bart., K. C. B., was in the chair.5 The honorable Secretary, Mr. C. E. Flower, stated that the proposal had been most favorably received, and the committee recommended that the theatre should be erected by subscription, and any sum raised beyond the amount required for the building, and any profit realized by the rental on ordinary occasions, to be applied, after defraying the necessary expenses of the establishment, to the celebration of the anniversary of the poet’s birthday, and to the promotion and improvement of legitimate acting, by the establishment of prizes for essays upon the subject, lectures, and ultimately a dramatic training school or college. The building to be erected upon a site which has been given for the purpose, the surrounding ground, from which beautiful views of the church and the river can be obtained, to be laid out as ornamental gardens. Connected with the theatre the committee also recommended that a library and a saloon or gallery, intended to receive pictures and statuary of Shakespearean subjects, (several of which have been already promised,) should be provided. Donors of £100 and upward to be Governors and managers of the property. The Governors to meet annually and vote personally, or by proxy, for the election of an Executive Council, and frame rules for the general management of the memorial property and funds. For convenience of administration the association to be incorporated under section 23 of the Companies act, 1867, for associations formed not for profit, but for the promotion of science, art, &c. The report was unanimously adopted, a list of promised donations to the amount of £2,563 10s., was read, and generous offers from managers and members of the theatrical profession of free performances were announced. Subscriptions of the smallest amount will be received, as it is hoped that a truly appropriate memorial to Shakespeare in his native town will receive the support of many in all parts of the world who have received instruction and pleasure from the poet’s works.”
By another circular I perceive that this project, young as it is, is already becoming popular, for no less than twenty-two lovers of Shakespeare have come forward with their £100 apiece, [&] assumed the dignity of Governors of the Memorial Theatre. In this list I find the following: Creswick, the actor; F. B. Chatterton, of the Drury Lane, London; Benjamin Webster, of the Adelphi, London; Buckstone, the comedian, & Mr. Sothern.6
I now come to my point, which will be found in this extract from my English friend’s letter:
“You may possibly remember some timber wharves on the Avon above my garden. These I have bought & given for a site for a Memorial Theatre.7 I think it possible that some Americans who have visited Stratford might be able & feel inclined to become Governors, (that is, £100 [shareholders] in the Memorial Theatre & grounds, & that others not so well off might like to contribute smaller sums to help beautify it.”
Therefore he asks me to make the suggestion in point here, & I very gladly do it. I think the mere suggestion is all that is necessary. We are not likely to be backward when called upon to do honor to Shakespeare. One of the circulars says:8
“Subscriptions can be paid to the Shakespeare Memorial Fund at the Old Bank, Stratford-upon-Avon, & will be invested in the names of Sir R. N. C. Hamilton, Bart., & C. E. Flower, Esq., who have consented to act as Trustees until the registration is completed.”
Will you, Sir, undertake to receive & forward the American subscriptions? Or if not, will you kindly name some responsible person who will do it?
I believe that Americans of every walk in life will cheerfully subscribe to this Shakespeare memorial; I think that some of our prominent actors (I could almost name them) will come forward & enroll themselves as Governors; I think our commercial millionaires & literary people will not be slow to take governorships, or at least come as near it as they feel able; & I think it altogether likely that many of our theatres, like those of England, will give it a benefit.
Americans have already subscribed $1,000 for an American memorial window to be put in the Shakespeare Church at Avon.9 About three-fourths of the visitors to Shakespeare’s tomb are Americans. If you will show me an American who has visited England & has not seen that tomb, Barnum shall be on his track next week. It was an American who roused into its present vigorous life England’s dead interest in her Shakespearean remains. Think of that! Imagine the house that Shakespeare was born in being brought bodily over here & set up on American soil! That came within an ace of being done once. A reputable gentleman of Stratford told me so. The old building was going to wreck & ruin. Nobody felt quite reverence enough for the dead dramatist to repair & take care of his house; so an American came along ever so quietly & bought it. The deeds were actually drawn & ready for the signatures. Then the thing got wind & there was a fine stir in England! The sale was stopped. Public-spirited Englishmen headed a revival of reverence for the poet, & from that day to this every relic of Shakespeare in Stratford has been sacred, & zealously cared for accordingly. Can you name the American who once owned Shakespeare’s birth-place for twenty-four hours? There is but one who could ever have conceived of such an unique & ingenious enterprise, & he is the man I refer to—P. T. Barnum.10
We had to lose the house: but let us not lose the present opportunity to help him build the Memorial Theatre.
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
He then intended to transport the Birthplace across
the Atlantic and back to America brick by brick. The sudden
realisation that the Birthplace could be lost forever awakened
public concern and the Shakespeare Birthday Committee was hurriedly
formed. The Committee grew in strength soon acquiring the patronage
of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Due to public contributions and
fundraising efforts by such esteemed figures as Charles Dickens and
Jenny Lind the Birthplace was purchased in 1847 for
£3,000. (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 1999, 1) An editorial in the London Times
of 21 July 1847 had helped stir resistance to Barnum’s plan: There is something grating to the ear in the
announcement that Shakspeare’s house is about to be
submitted to the hammer, and will be knocked down without reserve to
the highest bidder. . . . all we can hope for is, that some
arrangement may be made which will prevent a repetition of the
danger that exists of the house being removed from the country by
passing into the hands of some foreign showman. . . . we think it
will require no very extravagant outlay to rescue it at all events
from the desecrating grasp of those speculators who are said to be
desirous of taking it from its foundations, and trundling it about
on wheels like a caravan of wild beasts, giants, or dwarfs through
the United States of America. (“The meeting of the
Archaelogical Association . . .,” 5) The “reputable gentleman of
Stratford” was almost certainly Charles Flower, whose wife
later recalled making a donation to the fund (Macdonald). In his
autobiographical account of his failure to purchase the house, Barnum
claimed that “the British people, rather than suffer that
house to be removed to America, would have bought me off with twenty
thousand pounds” (Barnum 1872, 365). In chapter 64 of Following the Equator, Clemens recalled: I knew Mr. Barnum well, and I placed every confidence in the account
which he gave me of the Shakespeare birthplace episode. He said he
found the house neglected and going to decay, and he inquired into
the matter and was told that many times earnest efforts had been
made to raise money for its proper repair and preservation, but
without success. He then proposed to buy it. The proposition was
entertained, and a price named—$50,000, I
think; but whatever it was, Barnum paid the money down, without
remark, and the papers were drawn up and executed. He said that it
had been his purpose to set up the house in his Museum, keep it in
repair, protect it from name-scribblers and other desecrators, and
leave it by bequest to the safe and perpetual guardianship of the
Smithsonian Institute at Washington. But as soon as it was found that
Shakespeare’s house had passed into foreign hands and was
going to be carried across the ocean, England was stirred as no
appeal from the custodians of the relic had ever stirred England
before, and protests came flowing in—and money, too, to
stop the outrage. Offers of re-purchase were made—offers
of double the money that Mr. Barnum had paid for the house. He
handed the house back, but took only the sum which it had cost
him—but on the condition that an endowment sufficient for
the future safeguarding and maintenance of the sacred relic should
be raised. This condition was fulfilled. That was Barnum’s account of the
episode; and to the end of his days he claimed with pride and
satisfaction that not England, but America—represented by
him—saved the birthplace of Shakespeare from destruction.
(SLC 1897, 642–43)
Source text(s):Previous publication:
L6, 464–470; “A Shakspearian Revival,”
Hartford Evening Transcript, 1 May 75, 6, excerpt;
Scheuer, lot 908, with omissions.
Provenance:purchased in 1927 by businessman and collector Henry Clay Folger
(1857–1930) from Alwin J. Scheuer.
Emendations and textual notes:
Shaksperian • [sic]
tri-centennial • tri-|centennial
& • and
& • and [here and hereafter]
shareholders • share-|holders
Mark Twain • Mark Twain
Hartford • Hartford
