Preface

We all know the quote from Emerson that “An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man” and who can doubt that the Mark Twain Papers and Project is but the lengthened shadow of the inimitable Bob Hirst? To my mind, the MTPP is one of the great scholarly achievements of our time, providing researchers with the richest and most rounded portrait of Mark Twain imaginable. Not only has Bob Hirst gathered in a single place every scrap of paper written by or to or about Clemens and his family, but he and his staff have supplemented it with impeccable scholarly commentary that is invariably fair and accurate and nearly Talmudic in its depth of insight. In crafting my own biography, I always regarded Bob and the Mark Twain Papers as the gold standard, the court of last resort, whenever controversy or difficulties arose.In these celebratory pages, Bob's many friends and colleagues will pay tribute to the various sides of his character, but I would like to single out a trait that can be easily overlooked: his modesty. Before I flew out to Berkeley to meet Bob, I told him that, aside from poring over papers, I wanted to hear his thoughts on what made Mark Twain click. His response was highly revealing: It's an odd but true fact that, even though I've been working in this archive since 1967 (and am about to be 82), I find after all that time that I really don't have any special or unique understanding of Clemens. I think you'll be disappointed to find out how little I really know! It's sort of surprising, even to me. The fact is I've spent all this time working on getting the facts right, collecting and getting the evidence of the facts available to anyone who wants it, but especially to anyone like yourself who undertakes to put it all together and to give us the whole picture. So with a few exceptions (Innocents Abroad) I haven't written anything of interest about him, and haven't had the time even to think about doing so.This is a remarkable reply—so frank, self-effacing, and humble, and leavened by a wry self-awareness. These few lines sum up Bob Hirst's enterprise as an editor: placing the fruits of his labor at the disposal of others, of serving the many scholars who flock to the shrine he has painstakingly built over decades. He always puts the spotlight on them instead of himself and makes them look good because of his many years of quiet devotion to Mark Twain.From the first time I contacted Bob, he was warm and encouraging about my book. He rushed me, in abundance, all the materials I could ever need or want. When the Covid virus struck and I was afraid to board a plane, he heroically sent me, via email, a massive amount of material that kept me going. I must say that I consider myself damn lucky to have written my biography during the final years of Bob's extraordinary reign at the Bancroft Library. Thank you, Bob, for the scholarly feast you have served up so generously to me and to so many other researchers over the years. Your legacy will be an everlasting one at the Bancroft Library.