What would you do if Stephen Crane's attorney brother William sent you a letter asking you to be a pallbearer at Stephen's funeral? While you might be a little late replying, considering Crane was buried 110 years ago, you can now own such a letter.
Stuart Lutz historical autographs of New Jersey is selling the type-written and signed letter for around $500. It is addressed to Colonel Church and references Ripley Hitchcock. The price tag seems reasonable for such a unique item, if it is somewhat morbid. We of the Red Blog of Courage would buy it for our collection if we weren't so damn broke.
The letter can be seen on Lutz's website here:
http://www.historydocs.com/viewimage.asp?RecNum=11&StockNo=2624&ImageCount=1&ViewImage=1
If any of you buy it, let us know! Or if you know who Crane's other pallbearers were, leave a comment below. Hopefully Church made it to the, uh, church on time! RIP Stephen Crane.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
April: Important Crane Announcements!
Just a short post to let you know April will be a very exciting month on the Crane blog! As alluded to before, we have a super-huge announcement to make! And there has been another slightly-less-exciting development that will also be shared in the month of April. So, muddle through the rest of winter with us because there's some bigtime Crane stuff looming up ahead.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Crane Fantasy: The Secret Stash
Reclusive writer JD Salinger died this week at the old age of 91. He hadn't published anything since 1965, yet insider reports and common sense claim he's still been writing all these years. When the contents of Salinger's literary safe are revealed, will we see a dozen quality book manuscripts and hundreds of unpublished short stories, or will we see the leavings of a highly eccentric old man?
Either way, this is the sort of thing literary nerds like us dream of. Salinger, famous for The Catcher in the Rye, published more interesting works like Nine Stories or Franny & Zooey. He is a minor literary god, not anyplace near the heights of Stephen Crane, but it will be wonderful to see where he took his literary talent over the past silent 45 years.
Such time was never enjoyed by Mr. Crane, who died before his 29th birthday, and had not the luxury of leaving behind a secret stash of works, instead hurriedly dictating the end of his tales from his deathbed, for sake of money. Yes, life isn't fair, but at least Salinger fans who've waited all these years will see some payoff.
Either way, this is the sort of thing literary nerds like us dream of. Salinger, famous for The Catcher in the Rye, published more interesting works like Nine Stories or Franny & Zooey. He is a minor literary god, not anyplace near the heights of Stephen Crane, but it will be wonderful to see where he took his literary talent over the past silent 45 years.
Such time was never enjoyed by Mr. Crane, who died before his 29th birthday, and had not the luxury of leaving behind a secret stash of works, instead hurriedly dictating the end of his tales from his deathbed, for sake of money. Yes, life isn't fair, but at least Salinger fans who've waited all these years will see some payoff.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
State of the Blog Address
Fellow Crane Worshippers,
A couple days ago we listened to the President go on and on about a bunch of problems with America, and also every wonderful thing his administration has done for it so far. With a proper dash of Crane-style cynicism, we'll say it's good President Obama is keeping track of such things, so we can attend to the Stephen Crane matters of this blog.
As you know we have been going strong since November 2008 and have produced 30 Stephen Crane related posts thus far, to the tune of two a month. We've covered wonderful events like The Blue Hotel play and cd release, and amazing artifacts from a Lanthorn book to the Crane house. This year, 2010, we will announce our most exciting Crane contribution to date!
We considered unveiling it right off the bat, but then all our posts after that might be seen in a lesser light, so we're going to build up the suspense a bit before making the announcement. In the mean time you can always get onboard the Crane blog! Submit a guest post by emailing us or leave a comment below. My fellow Crane champions, the fate of the Red Blog of Courage rests upon your heads as well. Long live the legacy of Stephen Crane, mastersmith of letters!
A couple days ago we listened to the President go on and on about a bunch of problems with America, and also every wonderful thing his administration has done for it so far. With a proper dash of Crane-style cynicism, we'll say it's good President Obama is keeping track of such things, so we can attend to the Stephen Crane matters of this blog.
As you know we have been going strong since November 2008 and have produced 30 Stephen Crane related posts thus far, to the tune of two a month. We've covered wonderful events like The Blue Hotel play and cd release, and amazing artifacts from a Lanthorn book to the Crane house. This year, 2010, we will announce our most exciting Crane contribution to date!
We considered unveiling it right off the bat, but then all our posts after that might be seen in a lesser light, so we're going to build up the suspense a bit before making the announcement. In the mean time you can always get onboard the Crane blog! Submit a guest post by emailing us or leave a comment below. My fellow Crane champions, the fate of the Red Blog of Courage rests upon your heads as well. Long live the legacy of Stephen Crane, mastersmith of letters!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Stephen Crane's New Year Ordeal: The Open Boat
What will you be doing tonight when 2010 comes onto the scene? We of the Stephen Crane blog will be working at our night job, unfortunately, rather than reading Crane stories aloud into the new year as we'd like to. Still, our labors tonight won't be nearly as bad as Crane's 1897 new year's party aboard the SS Commodore, a little steamer (pictured above) which twice ran up on sand before inconveniently sinking off the Florida coast. Two lifeboats were lowered but one sank, drowning the seven men aboard. The other boat preserved our hero Stephen Crane, the captain, and members of the crew, excepting one fated to die. This ordeal, which can be read in detail at this webpage, was the basis for Crane's most powerful short story, The Open Boat, which can be read online here.
Thankfully Crane was not a Romantic, or he probably would have drown'd at sea. Yet he'd survive for only a handful of years more, and relive The Open Boat experience in nightmares on his deathbed, his diseased lungs drowning him on dry land. Alas, the fatal reach of cruel Poseidon!
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There is at least one film version of The Open Boat floating around, but we haven't located or watched it yet, so if you can help please email or leave a comment below. And keep reading here all through 2010 as we celebrate Stephen Crane stuff!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Christmas Stove & Spanking Story?
We've found another Stephen Crane Christmas story for you this year. It's a Whilomville tale called "The Stove," first published in Harper's, April 1900. The "angel child" and her parents come to visit Jimmie Trescott and family for the Christmas holiday. The girl brings along her prized toy; a working mini-stove, and we're talking cast-iron, not a lightbulb-powered Easy Bake Oven!
Mrs. Trescott puts on a ladies' tea party along with the angel child's mother, but the kids do something to spice up the party, until Dr. Trescott takes things in a different direction with this: "You've hurt her, have you? Well, hurt her again. Spank her!" he cried, enthusiastically. "Spank her, confound you, man! She needs it. Here's your chance. Spank her, and spank her good. Spank her!"
Hard to believe such things are mentioned in a Crane story, is it? Well guess again, and read the tale for yourself. And remember, anything can happen at Christmas time!
Mrs. Trescott puts on a ladies' tea party along with the angel child's mother, but the kids do something to spice up the party, until Dr. Trescott takes things in a different direction with this: "You've hurt her, have you? Well, hurt her again. Spank her!" he cried, enthusiastically. "Spank her, confound you, man! She needs it. Here's your chance. Spank her, and spank her good. Spank her!"
Hard to believe such things are mentioned in a Crane story, is it? Well guess again, and read the tale for yourself. And remember, anything can happen at Christmas time!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Stephen Crane's House
The holidays are a good time for going home, so let's take a peek at the place Stephen Crane called home during his late childhood. 508 Fourth Avenue, Asbury Park, NJ, USA is the address of this holy shrine. Crane's mother moved her children there in 1883, when Stephen was nearly 12 years old. The Crane family retained it until 1899. Nearly a hundred years later, in 1995, Tom and Regina Hayes purchased it and rescued the home from demolition.
According to the Stephen Crane House website run by current owner Frank D'Alessandro, "Since 1995, the house has been the small venue for hundreds of literary, musical, film and other cultural programs all dedicated to the memory of Stephen and his very literary and artistic family."
The next event taking place there will be a December 13th "Season's Reading" and viewing of the film "A Christmas Story." Click here for full information.
We of the Stephen Crane Blog have not yet made it to the Stephen Crane House, but when we do it shall be an earth-shaking pilgrimage and well documented on this blog.
According to the Stephen Crane House website run by current owner Frank D'Alessandro, "Since 1995, the house has been the small venue for hundreds of literary, musical, film and other cultural programs all dedicated to the memory of Stephen and his very literary and artistic family."
The next event taking place there will be a December 13th "Season's Reading" and viewing of the film "A Christmas Story." Click here for full information.
We of the Stephen Crane Blog have not yet made it to the Stephen Crane House, but when we do it shall be an earth-shaking pilgrimage and well documented on this blog.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The bird that thwarted the feast
In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, many of us think of birds in terms of gigantic meaty turkey things, wrapped in plastic and perhaps frozen. Such birds, bred for consumption, stand little chance to ruin the feast they are destined for. Unless they are spiteful enough to fall into the hands of an unskilled chef...but even that would not be dramatic enough to compare to the grim role a bird played in the Stephen Crane story "Twelve O'Clock."
In this story a cowboy strolls into a hotel to book a dinner reservation for his troop, numbering...
"Oh, about thirty," replied the cowboy. "An` we want th` best dinner you kin raise an` scrape. Everything th` best. We don`t care what it costs s`long as we git a good square meal. We`ll pay a dollar a head: by God, we will! We won`t kick on nothin` in the bill if you do it up fine. If you ain`t got it in th` house russle th` hull town fer it. That`s our gait. So you just tear loose, an` we`ll -"
At this moment the machinery of a cuckoo-clock on the wall began to whirr, little doors flew open and a wooden bird appeared and cried, "Cuckoo!" And this was repeated until eleven o`clock had been announced, while the cowboy, stupefied, glassy-eyed, stood with his red throat gulping. At the end he wheeled upon Placer and demanded: "What in hell is that?"
This cowboy, aka Jake, then brings his gang to the hotel to see the splendorous cuckoo bird, and let's just say things don't go very well. Not when you throw a rude hotel clerk, a drunken badass, overzealous lawmen, and some mob antics into the mix. Think of The Blue Hotel with a bird replacing the cash register.
Or better yet just read the short story here.
And if that doesn't satisfy your Stephen Crane feasting desires, check out our post from Thanksgiving of last year.
In this story a cowboy strolls into a hotel to book a dinner reservation for his troop, numbering...
"Oh, about thirty," replied the cowboy. "An` we want th` best dinner you kin raise an` scrape. Everything th` best. We don`t care what it costs s`long as we git a good square meal. We`ll pay a dollar a head: by God, we will! We won`t kick on nothin` in the bill if you do it up fine. If you ain`t got it in th` house russle th` hull town fer it. That`s our gait. So you just tear loose, an` we`ll -"
At this moment the machinery of a cuckoo-clock on the wall began to whirr, little doors flew open and a wooden bird appeared and cried, "Cuckoo!" And this was repeated until eleven o`clock had been announced, while the cowboy, stupefied, glassy-eyed, stood with his red throat gulping. At the end he wheeled upon Placer and demanded: "What in hell is that?"
This cowboy, aka Jake, then brings his gang to the hotel to see the splendorous cuckoo bird, and let's just say things don't go very well. Not when you throw a rude hotel clerk, a drunken badass, overzealous lawmen, and some mob antics into the mix. Think of The Blue Hotel with a bird replacing the cash register.
Or better yet just read the short story here.
And if that doesn't satisfy your Stephen Crane feasting desires, check out our post from Thanksgiving of last year.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Happy Birthday Stephen Crane!
When you read this it is likely our hero Stephen Crane will have celebrated another birthday. November 1, 1871 happened 138 years ago, so Crane would have been long in the tooth today. To read more about his life, stroll through this blog, the Stephen Crane Society website, or the Crane wikipedia entry in the links on the left.
November 1 also marks the one-year anniversary of this blog. Two Stephen Crane related posts per month for a total of, um, 25 posts. In 2008 we weren't so good with math, so we made one extra post. If you want to reminisce, check out our very first post: http://redblogofcourage.blogspot.com/2008/11/come-worship-stephen-crane-with-me.html
Looking back at the Crane calendar year, we've covered a Blue Hotel play and music cd, a bunch of memorabilia including the Lanthorn book, and we've looked at enough Crane stories to get us through the year. Check out the blog archives if you missed anything.
2010 will see this blog rolling along to more Crane glory! We are always seeking guest comments and posts, so chip in and help this blog grow. Also in 2010 we will be making a major announcement that is gonna surprise the stuffing out of a lot of people in Crane Land. So look to that and much more, after you properly celebrate Stephen Crane's birthday.
November 1 also marks the one-year anniversary of this blog. Two Stephen Crane related posts per month for a total of, um, 25 posts. In 2008 we weren't so good with math, so we made one extra post. If you want to reminisce, check out our very first post: http://redblogofcourage.blogspot.com/2008/11/come-worship-stephen-crane-with-me.html
Looking back at the Crane calendar year, we've covered a Blue Hotel play and music cd, a bunch of memorabilia including the Lanthorn book, and we've looked at enough Crane stories to get us through the year. Check out the blog archives if you missed anything.
2010 will see this blog rolling along to more Crane glory! We are always seeking guest comments and posts, so chip in and help this blog grow. Also in 2010 we will be making a major announcement that is gonna surprise the stuffing out of a lot of people in Crane Land. So look to that and much more, after you properly celebrate Stephen Crane's birthday.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Spooky Stephen Crane
Looking at the calendar we are now less than two weeks away from Stephen Crane's birthday. What a glorious day that will be! November 1st also marks the one-year anniversary of this blog. That's right, one full year of celebrating Stephen Crane online nonstop, and we didn't even break a sweat.
Before Crane's birthday we have to endure this thing called Halloween, a time to dress up and pretend, while encouraging little kids to run around bothering strangers for candy. Since we can't fully hide from this day, we can at least taste it with a touch of style, in this case consuming a spooky article by the master.
Crane wasn't known for tales of terror, as Poe was, yet this little piece from an Asbury Park newspaper puts the chill in us with Crane's unmistakable pen knitting visions of a lonesome spectral indian & a ghostly shipwrecked dog, among others.
Zoinks!
Before Crane's birthday we have to endure this thing called Halloween, a time to dress up and pretend, while encouraging little kids to run around bothering strangers for candy. Since we can't fully hide from this day, we can at least taste it with a touch of style, in this case consuming a spooky article by the master.
Crane wasn't known for tales of terror, as Poe was, yet this little piece from an Asbury Park newspaper puts the chill in us with Crane's unmistakable pen knitting visions of a lonesome spectral indian & a ghostly shipwrecked dog, among others.
Zoinks!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Stephen Crane Studies 17.2
Now let's take a look at volume 17, number 2 of Stephen Crane Studies. The first article is "The Sound and the Fury in Stephen Crane's Maggie and George's Mother" by Shunji Kuga. This takes a look at the slang and speech habits of Crane's bowery folk. I'll spoil the surprise for you though...they mostly yell and curse a lot, and utter things like, "What'd hell?". I know many of you do as well.
Next is a piece about "An Unpublished Note and Inscription of Stephen Crane" by George & Jean Houston. The items are on photographs and date from 1897, sent to a man named Eben Alexander. I won't reveal what Crane wrote, you'll have to read Stephen Crane Studies 17.2 to find that out.
"'Our Own Steve Crane' in Chicago," by George Monteiro, samples some funny unsigned parodies of Crane's poetic style that appeared in newspapers during his lifetime. This one was published in the Duluth News-Tribune, August 6,1897:
A man walked along a crooked road.
The road was so twisted that sometimes the man met himself coming back.
"Ah," he said, and smiled. "Nit."
He was a wise man and bought a bottle of Keeley cure.
Last is a review of Patrick Dooley's "A Community of Inquiry: Conversations Between Classical American Philosophy and American Literature" submitted by John Clendenning.
Next is a piece about "An Unpublished Note and Inscription of Stephen Crane" by George & Jean Houston. The items are on photographs and date from 1897, sent to a man named Eben Alexander. I won't reveal what Crane wrote, you'll have to read Stephen Crane Studies 17.2 to find that out.
"'Our Own Steve Crane' in Chicago," by George Monteiro, samples some funny unsigned parodies of Crane's poetic style that appeared in newspapers during his lifetime. This one was published in the Duluth News-Tribune, August 6,1897:
A man walked along a crooked road.
The road was so twisted that sometimes the man met himself coming back.
"Ah," he said, and smiled. "Nit."
He was a wise man and bought a bottle of Keeley cure.
Last is a review of Patrick Dooley's "A Community of Inquiry: Conversations Between Classical American Philosophy and American Literature" submitted by John Clendenning.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
New Issue of Stephen Crane Studies
I received volume 17, number 1 & 2 of Stephen Crane Studies this week. This is published by the Stephen Crane Society and as we've said before, is a must-have subscription for any Crane fan. Ordering info and table of contents for the last few issues can be found here. With this post i'd like to briefly go through #1, and in our next post we'll look at #2.
Enclosed with the issues was a very polite dues renewal notice. The editor, Paul Sorrentino, points out that the subscription/membership fee of $10 is still the same as it was for volume 1 in 1992. He makes a good point so i think i will forward this bill to my financial secretary for review. However it is signed "Paul" in what appears to be blue ink. Since Sorrentino is one of the top Stephen Crane experts i might have to archive this signed bill and add it to my Crane collection.
The look of Stephen Crane Studies hasn't changed much since i started subscribing back in 04-05. It is a slim half-page volume with a creamy cover and a photo of Stephen Crane on the front. The first article in volume 17, #1 is called "New York City Topography of Maggie and George's Mother" by Stanley Wertheim. It is the longest article in here and is an interesting read.
Next article is "Crane's "Red Wafer" Again" by George Monteiro. This is a funny one, as the author cites old school Crane critic John Berryman knocking down Robert W Stallman's theory that the wafer in the Red Badge of Courage is supposed to be sacramental. Instead the red wafer is supposedly inspired by discs used to seal letters back in the day. Which makes a lot more sense considering that Crane was not a religious-minded person. Monteiro ends the brief article by looking at Portuguese, Brazilian, and Spanish translations of Red Badge. He looked at five translations, and only one translates "wafer" as "seal." The other four follow Stallman's thinking and translate "wafer" as "host."
The third article is "The President's Column: In a Jocular Vein" by Tom Clayton of the University of Minnesota. He is talking about Ambrose Bierce and Stephen Crane, and a course on them he almost taught in '85-'86 but never did. Wow and i thought i was a slacker...get to it, buddy! He mentions a few of Crane's cynical poems and then Bierce's definition of cynic in The Devil's Dictionary. Sorrentino puts an editor's note at the bottom of this article that says, "...Though it deals with more than Crane, readers of Stephen Crane Studies should find it interesting." Luckily for him i do, and i also like Bierce, so i won't get upset and start pressin' charges.
Last thing in #1 is a review of Stephen Crane Remembered, edited by Sorrentino, 2006. The review is by Donald Vanouse, so don't mess around.
Enclosed with the issues was a very polite dues renewal notice. The editor, Paul Sorrentino, points out that the subscription/membership fee of $10 is still the same as it was for volume 1 in 1992. He makes a good point so i think i will forward this bill to my financial secretary for review. However it is signed "Paul" in what appears to be blue ink. Since Sorrentino is one of the top Stephen Crane experts i might have to archive this signed bill and add it to my Crane collection.
The look of Stephen Crane Studies hasn't changed much since i started subscribing back in 04-05. It is a slim half-page volume with a creamy cover and a photo of Stephen Crane on the front. The first article in volume 17, #1 is called "New York City Topography of Maggie and George's Mother" by Stanley Wertheim. It is the longest article in here and is an interesting read.
Next article is "Crane's "Red Wafer" Again" by George Monteiro. This is a funny one, as the author cites old school Crane critic John Berryman knocking down Robert W Stallman's theory that the wafer in the Red Badge of Courage is supposed to be sacramental. Instead the red wafer is supposedly inspired by discs used to seal letters back in the day. Which makes a lot more sense considering that Crane was not a religious-minded person. Monteiro ends the brief article by looking at Portuguese, Brazilian, and Spanish translations of Red Badge. He looked at five translations, and only one translates "wafer" as "seal." The other four follow Stallman's thinking and translate "wafer" as "host."
The third article is "The President's Column: In a Jocular Vein" by Tom Clayton of the University of Minnesota. He is talking about Ambrose Bierce and Stephen Crane, and a course on them he almost taught in '85-'86 but never did. Wow and i thought i was a slacker...get to it, buddy! He mentions a few of Crane's cynical poems and then Bierce's definition of cynic in The Devil's Dictionary. Sorrentino puts an editor's note at the bottom of this article that says, "...Though it deals with more than Crane, readers of Stephen Crane Studies should find it interesting." Luckily for him i do, and i also like Bierce, so i won't get upset and start pressin' charges.
Last thing in #1 is a review of Stephen Crane Remembered, edited by Sorrentino, 2006. The review is by Donald Vanouse, so don't mess around.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Stephen Crane's Lonely Hearts Club Band?
I hear "The Beatles: Rock Band" is coming out soon, and quite frankly i could care less. Video games like that aren't my thing. The interesting part is that the two surviving Beatles (McCartney, Starr) and the widows of George Harrison (Olivia) and John Lennon (Yoko) supposedly had so much input with this project. Which of course makes sense.
I felt guilty letting my mind wander to Beatles thoughts while pondering this video game, so i quickly searched for a Stephen Crane tangent to riff off on (that's cool guitarspeak, people). Believe it or not, Stephen Crane is on the cover of one of the greatest albums of all time, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band!
Check it out on this website, scroll down half way to see the album cover. Here is the detail, rather hard to see, but Crane is at center in this image, wedged between a guy's face and and hand.
Hmm, this forces the question: Who was consulted on Stephen Crane's behalf before he was included on one of the best selling albums of all time? While it's awesome the Beatles thought to include him, I've got to say, the pic of him is rather hard to see, mixed in there among 60 other figures. It would have been so much better had the cover of Sgt. Pepper featured just Stephen Crane...or ok, the Beatles and him.
What is nice is that he is placed directly above Paul McCartney's head. However, this is probably connected to that weird marketing ploy which spread the rumor that the real Paul died during the Beatles' rise and was replaced by a double. Don't know about you but i'm not too keen on Stephen Crane's partially obscured face being used as a false hint to something that never happened...or did it?
But i suppose i can overlook all this and get really grooved out that Crane is on the Sgt. Pepper cover. I just need my magnifying glass to make sure it's really him. Also need my meds, because the rest of the cover gives me seizures!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Washington Square Press
In one of my first posts to this blog i mentioned my first brush with the work of Stephen Crane: picking up a copy of The Red Badge of Courage in my middle school's library. I had an image of that cover in my mind all these years since, but i only recently found a photo of it online:
The soldiers drew me in. I only wonder if the cover wasn't quite so cool, when if ever would i have discovered Stephen Crane for myself? So i'd just like to thank the publisher, Washington Square Press, for catching my eye. There is also a Signet paperback with an almost identical cover:
I don't know where that Civil War photo comes from, so if you do please leave a comment below. Just don't say Matthew Brady or you'll be shot with a rusty cartridge. It's a great photo, and i remember as i kid i was trying to decide which Red Badge character would be which soldier in the photo. I suppose for me, Henry is the one in the second row from the front, on the right, and Wilson is the leaning guy on his left. What do you think? And who are the rest of them?
After getting hooked by the Red Badge i then went to the public library looking for Crane books and found this edition of Maggie & other stories, which also happens to be published by Washington Square Press:
Monday, July 27, 2009
RETURN of the LANTHORN
No doubt you remember our April 2009 post about Stephen Crane signed copies of the Lanthorn Book available for sale. Well, as proof this blog is fast becoming the cutting edge of all things Crane, we've now seen one of the mentioned copies sold at auction earlier this month!
RR Auction of Amherst New Hampshire sold copy #38 of the Lanthorn in their July online auction. (The listing has already been taken down and replaced with the August auction items, and their past auction database is not currently functional). It sold for $3944 with the 20% buyers premium factored in. This is the same copy that was listed for sale by University Archives. John Reznikoff of University Archives is also affiliated with RR Auction.
The University Archives listing offered the book for $5,000. The RR Auction selling price of $3944 is respectable, but quite a bargain considering how rare the Lanthorn is, and considering the overall values of Crane signatures. The economy certainly has something to do with it. Also this Lanthorn book did have some stains, including a slight one under Crane's signature. Based on this result i personally wouldn't place any Crane signed items on the auction block right now.
It's interesting to take a look at how the Lanthorn Book fared against its fellows in the same Auction category (July 2009, Art & Literature, RR Auction). Among the top seven single-item sellers, Crane's Lanthorn placed right smack in the middle...
$5407 Mark Twain portrait of Howells or Laffan
$5251 Hemingway signed book For Whom The Bell Tolls
$4339 TE Lawrence autograph letter signed
$3944 Stephen Crane signed Lanthorn book #38
$3876 Charlotte Bronte clipped signature
$3586 Ernest Hemingway signed photo
$3259 Mark Twain signed photo
We should also note that this was described as a Stephen Crane signed book, with the other less famous signers being pretty much ignored in this case, poor boys!
Oh, and who was the buyer of this wonderful Lanthorn? Dear Sir, Madam, or Soulless Corporate Entity, you have exquisite taste, if you are reading this please leave a comment below and out yourself!
RR Auction of Amherst New Hampshire sold copy #38 of the Lanthorn in their July online auction. (The listing has already been taken down and replaced with the August auction items, and their past auction database is not currently functional). It sold for $3944 with the 20% buyers premium factored in. This is the same copy that was listed for sale by University Archives. John Reznikoff of University Archives is also affiliated with RR Auction.
The University Archives listing offered the book for $5,000. The RR Auction selling price of $3944 is respectable, but quite a bargain considering how rare the Lanthorn is, and considering the overall values of Crane signatures. The economy certainly has something to do with it. Also this Lanthorn book did have some stains, including a slight one under Crane's signature. Based on this result i personally wouldn't place any Crane signed items on the auction block right now.
It's interesting to take a look at how the Lanthorn Book fared against its fellows in the same Auction category (July 2009, Art & Literature, RR Auction). Among the top seven single-item sellers, Crane's Lanthorn placed right smack in the middle...
$5407 Mark Twain portrait of Howells or Laffan
$5251 Hemingway signed book For Whom The Bell Tolls
$4339 TE Lawrence autograph letter signed
$3944 Stephen Crane signed Lanthorn book #38
$3876 Charlotte Bronte clipped signature
$3586 Ernest Hemingway signed photo
$3259 Mark Twain signed photo
We should also note that this was described as a Stephen Crane signed book, with the other less famous signers being pretty much ignored in this case, poor boys!
Oh, and who was the buyer of this wonderful Lanthorn? Dear Sir, Madam, or Soulless Corporate Entity, you have exquisite taste, if you are reading this please leave a comment below and out yourself!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Dog abuse story
We are now well into July. The heat, laziness and adventure of the summer season plants a three-letter word in our heads so we can't stop thinking about it. That's right.....DOG. These strange creatures go hand-in-hand with the summertime, so i've excavated a dog story from the Crane canon, A Dark Brown Dog.
I want to warn all the PETA people and Obama voters that this is quite a disturbing dog story. In fact it reads as softcore porn for the Michael Vick circle. So if you're really not up for reading, then don't. I also want to stress that Stephen Crane was a great animal lover, especially with dogs and horses, so don't misread the message of this story...
A Dark Brown Dog by Stephen Crane
It's quite a simple story. A boy is walking around when he encounters a small dog, beats the hell out it, it follows him home, the family grudgingly accepts the dog then beats the hell out of it. The boy and dog are friends. The dog gets killed. Whoops did i forget to say ***SPOILER ALERT***
Over the course of the story the poor dog is beaten with the following items (and we are lead to believe, many more that aren't specifically stated):
-fist
-stick
-rope
-foot
-saucepan
-brooms
-coal
-coffee pot
It is also abused in the following ways:
-dragged up a staircase
-chased around a room
-underfed
-verbally abused
-lifted up by one leg
-swung about head
-thrown from fifth story window
As i said in my intro, this is quite shocking to most modern readers, Vick circle excluded. Was such dog abuse common in the late 19th century? Probably moreso than it is today. And what is the purpose of this story then? Perhaps to show how ridiculous and mean the humans look when they abuse this innocent dog. Why am i posing questions then answering them myself? In the hopes that students will copy my answers verbatim and fail their literature classes.
Personally i'd rank A Dark Brown Dog quite low when compared to the rest of the Master's stories. I suppose you could say it's an early animal rights piece, but what would the contemporary readers' reaction have been other than 'Awww,' 'Har!Har!Har!' and 'Golly gee let me stop beating my own dark brown dog so frequently!' ?
This story is more fun if you remove the dog from it entirely, and substitute the name of one of your least-favorite celebrities. For instance, here is an excerpt that substitutes TV know-it-all Dr. Phil McGraw for the dog....
"The child's practised eye instantly noted his father's state. He dived under the table, where experience had taught him was a rather safe place. Dr. Phil, lacking skill in such matters, was, of course, unaware of the true condition of affairs. He looked with interested eyes at his friend's sudden dive. He interpreted it to mean: Joyous gambol. He started to patter across the floor to join him. He was the picture of Dr. Phil en route to a friend.
The head of the family saw him at this moment. He gave a huge howl of joy, and knocked Dr. Phil down with a heavy coffee-pot. Dr. Phil, yelling in supreme astonishment and fear, writhed to his feet and ran for cover. The man kicked out with a ponderous foot. It caused Dr. Phil to swerve as if caught in a tide. A second blow of the coffee-pot laid him upon the floor."
Doesn't that make the story much easier to swallow now? Which raises another question; Are people bothered more by the suffering of animals than the suffering of their own species? Um, i dunno. And we've thrown Dr. Phil out the window so we can't even ask him...
I want to warn all the PETA people and Obama voters that this is quite a disturbing dog story. In fact it reads as softcore porn for the Michael Vick circle. So if you're really not up for reading, then don't. I also want to stress that Stephen Crane was a great animal lover, especially with dogs and horses, so don't misread the message of this story...
A Dark Brown Dog by Stephen Crane
It's quite a simple story. A boy is walking around when he encounters a small dog, beats the hell out it, it follows him home, the family grudgingly accepts the dog then beats the hell out of it. The boy and dog are friends. The dog gets killed. Whoops did i forget to say ***SPOILER ALERT***
Over the course of the story the poor dog is beaten with the following items (and we are lead to believe, many more that aren't specifically stated):
-fist
-stick
-rope
-foot
-saucepan
-brooms
-coal
-coffee pot
It is also abused in the following ways:
-dragged up a staircase
-chased around a room
-underfed
-verbally abused
-lifted up by one leg
-swung about head
-thrown from fifth story window
As i said in my intro, this is quite shocking to most modern readers, Vick circle excluded. Was such dog abuse common in the late 19th century? Probably moreso than it is today. And what is the purpose of this story then? Perhaps to show how ridiculous and mean the humans look when they abuse this innocent dog. Why am i posing questions then answering them myself? In the hopes that students will copy my answers verbatim and fail their literature classes.
Personally i'd rank A Dark Brown Dog quite low when compared to the rest of the Master's stories. I suppose you could say it's an early animal rights piece, but what would the contemporary readers' reaction have been other than 'Awww,' 'Har!Har!Har!' and 'Golly gee let me stop beating my own dark brown dog so frequently!' ?
This story is more fun if you remove the dog from it entirely, and substitute the name of one of your least-favorite celebrities. For instance, here is an excerpt that substitutes TV know-it-all Dr. Phil McGraw for the dog....
"The child's practised eye instantly noted his father's state. He dived under the table, where experience had taught him was a rather safe place. Dr. Phil, lacking skill in such matters, was, of course, unaware of the true condition of affairs. He looked with interested eyes at his friend's sudden dive. He interpreted it to mean: Joyous gambol. He started to patter across the floor to join him. He was the picture of Dr. Phil en route to a friend.
The head of the family saw him at this moment. He gave a huge howl of joy, and knocked Dr. Phil down with a heavy coffee-pot. Dr. Phil, yelling in supreme astonishment and fear, writhed to his feet and ran for cover. The man kicked out with a ponderous foot. It caused Dr. Phil to swerve as if caught in a tide. A second blow of the coffee-pot laid him upon the floor."
Doesn't that make the story much easier to swallow now? Which raises another question; Are people bothered more by the suffering of animals than the suffering of their own species? Um, i dunno. And we've thrown Dr. Phil out the window so we can't even ask him...
Sunday, June 28, 2009
RW Stallman inscribed book
Well the period of mourning for Stephen Crane is now over, and it's time to get to the business at hand. Just so happens we at Crane Crusaders central division recently acquired a very interesting Crane item. It's a copy of the Crane Omnibus inscribed by RW Stallman! Here is the seller's description:
STEPHEN CRANE: AN OMNIBUS. New York: Knopf, 1961. Fifth printing of the first collected edition. Edited, with an Introduction and notes, by Robert Wooster Stallman. Presentation copy inscribed by Stallman "For President and Mrs. Homer Babbidge" and dated Christmas 1963. Homer Babbidge was president of the University of Connecticut from 1962-1972, and the university's library now bears his name. Stallman has also added a notation beneath his inscription indicating the pages that reference 19th century Connecticut author John William de Forest (1826-1906). In Stallman's introduction to The Red Badge of Courage here, he notes how de Forest's graphic "modern" military realism preceded Cranes by a quarter century. 703 pp. 8o. Red cloth with gilt titles.
This book was exciting for me on a number of levels. It's a Crane book that i didn't have. It's signed by RW Stallman, a very cool literary scholar. It's a gift to Homer Babbidge, namesake of UConn's library. And the inscription references a Connecticut author as a precursor to Crane. Since i was raised in Connecticut this book was just too good to pass up.
When i buy stuff like this i get the guilty feeling that it belongs in a library or a museum! At least until i remember i'm a literary nerd, and no one really cares for this stuff anymore except a hardcore group of us! Well it has found a good home with my collection.
I'm also kinda curious how the book made it from Babbidge's hands to mine. The seller said it comes from the library of George deForest Lord, the author and Yale professor born in 1919. Assuming Mr. Lord is a relative of the deForest author mentioned by Stallman, maybe we can assume that Babbidge sent it along to him? Jeez, talk about re-gifting!
This book didn't cost very much, or i wouldn't have been able to afford it. This is a one-of-a-kind item, and i'd bet that Stallman signed books are pretty hard to find. As for authenticity, i think we're pretty safe....i mean come on people, who would bother to forge something like this?!
Anyway i'm glad to welcome this book into my Crane collection. If you're excited as i am about this, leave a comment below...
Friday, June 5, 2009
Rest in Peace
Alas, today is the day Stephen Crane died! Cora took his body back to the States and he was buried in Evergreen Cemetery (Hillside, New Jersey). It's so hard for humans to deal with death. We sort of fumble through the burial process and take grieving as a personal matter, while at the same time we've got to get on with our own lives.
The Upturned Face, one of Crane's Spanish-American War stories, deals with this topic. Here is the text of this extremely short story. It was first published in Ainslee's Magazine just a few months before Crane's death. And here is a short film version, directed by Edward Folger in 1972.
Take a few moments to appreciate Stephen Crane this week! The man was a great artist with rare gifts, and though his life was short, we're lucky to have today what he left behind.
The Upturned Face, one of Crane's Spanish-American War stories, deals with this topic. Here is the text of this extremely short story. It was first published in Ainslee's Magazine just a few months before Crane's death. And here is a short film version, directed by Edward Folger in 1972.
Take a few moments to appreciate Stephen Crane this week! The man was a great artist with rare gifts, and though his life was short, we're lucky to have today what he left behind.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
The End is Near
As Polly said to Manuel in the "Basil the Rat" episode of Fawlty Towers..."Prepare yourself for a shock!" Our hero Stephen Crane has less than a week's worth of life left in him! Right now he & Cora are at a health spa in Badenweiler, Germany, being attended to by the finest quack doctors. Granted, this all happened back in 1900. I'm not so good at math but i'll call that 109 years ago. Still for those of us who love Stephen Crane, the passage of time doesn't blunt the impact of his death any. Imagine the body of work he would have created had he lived to a decent age! Imagine the wealth of Crane artifacts we'd have if he only would have survived into the 1940's or '50's! How would World War I, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and World War II have influenced Mr. Crane's work. Ugh, we'll never know for sure! These are sad days for us! Check back in June 5th for more wailing and lamentation...
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The Monster
Today i'd like to take a look at The Monster, a story that i'd say ranks comfortably as Crane's best Whilomville tale & in the top ten of his overall short stories. The complete text of The Monster can be found here.
Henry Johnson works as stable minder for the Trescott family, and in his personal life is a well-respected man (a dandy) in the black community. One night there is a fire at the Trescott home and Henry, second man on the scene, rushes into the burning house to save the young boy Jimmie. Henry carries the boy downstairs but they become trapped in Dr. Trescott's laboratory. Trescott kicks the door down from outside and rescues his son, who is ok due to having been wrapped in a blanket and dropped near the window by Henry. Another man rushes inside to drag Henry out of the lab, but by this time he's been severely burned by fire and flaming chemicals spilling onto his head.
Dr. Trescott manages to keep Henry alive but he's disfigured, described as having no face. He's also gone insane somehow, which is not explained by Crane in what is perhaps the story's main weakness. Did the shock of his mangled mug cause him to snap like the Joker? This seems likely considering Crane portrayed Henry as someone who took excessive pride in his appearance. However, in the post-fire Henry we see no hint of self-awareness, in fact he'll escape to stroll about the town peering in at kids and calling at his girlfriend's house as if nothing is wrong.
Immediately after the fire Henry is hidden away at a neighbor's house, and the newspaper is allowed to print his obituary. The neighbor, Judge Hagenthorpe, is the first one to question the wisdom & morality of keeping Henry alive in such a pathetic state, but Dr. Trescott points out that Henry saved his son's life. The judge of course realizes this and delivers one of the best lines of the story, "It is hard for a man to know what to do."
As he recovers Henry is shifted to the home of Mr. Williams, a former friend of his. Trescott is paying Williams $5 a week to board Henry, but due to his disfigurement and insane rantings, Henry is kept locked in a room by the terrorized Williams family. One night Henry escapes and wanders about the town, peering in the window where a childrens' party is taking place, and scaring the little Winters girl. He then calls on his girlfriend and her mother in "Watermelon Alley," sending them both running in fear. Finally he startles an Irish woman and is chased by a mob, only to escape until he's rounded up by the police early in the morning.
Dr. Trescott is summoned to collect Henry from jail, advised to bring a mask or a veil to hide Henry's face from onlookers. After the escape the entire town becomes upset with Dr. Trescott for keeping such a "monster" alive and in their vicinity. The social fallout is such that Trescott loses most of his clients and becomes the least-popular doctor in town. The Judge and several prominent businessmen, acting out of concern for Trescott's status, advise him to send Henry to live far away from the town, suggesting a remote farm or a public institution. But the doctor refuses to do so, instead keeping Henry under his own roof.
In the final scene his wife, Grace, is weeping due to having only received one visitor for her weekly social. Trescott counts 15 unfilled tea cups that had been set out on the table. This could be the saddest display of the story, and we're left wondering if Trescott will give in and discharge Henry for the sake of his family.
Crane does an excellent job of portraying a universal reaction to the disfigured "monster." Whites, blacks, young, old, rich, poor, women, men, and authority figures all react poorly to Henry despite knowing his tragic & heroic history. In fact the boy he saved from the fire, Jimmie, even leads his friends in tormenting Henry, his face now hidden by a veil. Only Dr. Trescott stays loyal to the man who saved his son, and it's questionable whether the doctor has done Henry the greatest disservice of all, by nursing him back to health despite his dreadful state.
One thing to note is Crane does hint that the town's women are to blame for the adverse reaction to Henry and Dr. Trescott, in fact he has one of the "prominent" town leaders state this twice in private consultation with the doctor. Crane also shows a lengthy gossip session done by women, and a mother calling her child away from playing in the Trescott yard. Yet the men are shown just as guilty in the social mess, with Mr. Winter, father of the little girl frightened by Henry, acting as top enemy against Trescott. A common undercurrent in Crane's works, i think, is to hint that women are to blame for various episodes of tragichaos as the underlying spark, yet it is the male characters who actually commit the main offensive actions in his stories, with the women portrayed quite naturally or even admirably. Perhaps Crane is dangling them as a red herring for the reader who'll want an easy explanation. Yet who of any earthly experience can't recognize the power & influence of women in all things social?
In only one sense has The Monster, first published in 1898, failed to age well. This is the shock the modern reader will experience from the old racial stereotypes employed against some of the black characters, their exaggerated dialog, and the outright racism of some of the white characters. Yet Crane makes the latter eventually feel shame or look foolish, as the man who speculates that Henry got tired and knocked over a lamp, starting the fire, only to be rescued by Dr. Trescott. In reality a black man is hero of the story, a white man is the only one loyal to him, and black and white society react in exactly the same way to the "monster."
When it comes to the social stigma of disfigurement, the story is especially relevant today, as face transplants have been in the news. Victims of fire, car accident, shootings, animal maulings, acid attacks, and birth defects all suffer, and only now is there any hope that our relatively primitive medical capabilities can help them lead normal lives. So Henry Johnson is hardly a character merely in fiction, he could be any one of us. I have seen two people in public who could be described as having "no face," and it is virtually impossible not to stare a beat too long at first, or look away quick then glance back at them, wondering what happened. It is a fright instinct that humans have and like it or not we rely on cursory superficial data before the more intelligent forces kick in. Thus, a wounded human being could very easily become a "monster," and disrupt an entire town's sense of peace.
Henry Johnson works as stable minder for the Trescott family, and in his personal life is a well-respected man (a dandy) in the black community. One night there is a fire at the Trescott home and Henry, second man on the scene, rushes into the burning house to save the young boy Jimmie. Henry carries the boy downstairs but they become trapped in Dr. Trescott's laboratory. Trescott kicks the door down from outside and rescues his son, who is ok due to having been wrapped in a blanket and dropped near the window by Henry. Another man rushes inside to drag Henry out of the lab, but by this time he's been severely burned by fire and flaming chemicals spilling onto his head.
Dr. Trescott manages to keep Henry alive but he's disfigured, described as having no face. He's also gone insane somehow, which is not explained by Crane in what is perhaps the story's main weakness. Did the shock of his mangled mug cause him to snap like the Joker? This seems likely considering Crane portrayed Henry as someone who took excessive pride in his appearance. However, in the post-fire Henry we see no hint of self-awareness, in fact he'll escape to stroll about the town peering in at kids and calling at his girlfriend's house as if nothing is wrong.
Immediately after the fire Henry is hidden away at a neighbor's house, and the newspaper is allowed to print his obituary. The neighbor, Judge Hagenthorpe, is the first one to question the wisdom & morality of keeping Henry alive in such a pathetic state, but Dr. Trescott points out that Henry saved his son's life. The judge of course realizes this and delivers one of the best lines of the story, "It is hard for a man to know what to do."
As he recovers Henry is shifted to the home of Mr. Williams, a former friend of his. Trescott is paying Williams $5 a week to board Henry, but due to his disfigurement and insane rantings, Henry is kept locked in a room by the terrorized Williams family. One night Henry escapes and wanders about the town, peering in the window where a childrens' party is taking place, and scaring the little Winters girl. He then calls on his girlfriend and her mother in "Watermelon Alley," sending them both running in fear. Finally he startles an Irish woman and is chased by a mob, only to escape until he's rounded up by the police early in the morning.
Dr. Trescott is summoned to collect Henry from jail, advised to bring a mask or a veil to hide Henry's face from onlookers. After the escape the entire town becomes upset with Dr. Trescott for keeping such a "monster" alive and in their vicinity. The social fallout is such that Trescott loses most of his clients and becomes the least-popular doctor in town. The Judge and several prominent businessmen, acting out of concern for Trescott's status, advise him to send Henry to live far away from the town, suggesting a remote farm or a public institution. But the doctor refuses to do so, instead keeping Henry under his own roof.
In the final scene his wife, Grace, is weeping due to having only received one visitor for her weekly social. Trescott counts 15 unfilled tea cups that had been set out on the table. This could be the saddest display of the story, and we're left wondering if Trescott will give in and discharge Henry for the sake of his family.
Crane does an excellent job of portraying a universal reaction to the disfigured "monster." Whites, blacks, young, old, rich, poor, women, men, and authority figures all react poorly to Henry despite knowing his tragic & heroic history. In fact the boy he saved from the fire, Jimmie, even leads his friends in tormenting Henry, his face now hidden by a veil. Only Dr. Trescott stays loyal to the man who saved his son, and it's questionable whether the doctor has done Henry the greatest disservice of all, by nursing him back to health despite his dreadful state.
One thing to note is Crane does hint that the town's women are to blame for the adverse reaction to Henry and Dr. Trescott, in fact he has one of the "prominent" town leaders state this twice in private consultation with the doctor. Crane also shows a lengthy gossip session done by women, and a mother calling her child away from playing in the Trescott yard. Yet the men are shown just as guilty in the social mess, with Mr. Winter, father of the little girl frightened by Henry, acting as top enemy against Trescott. A common undercurrent in Crane's works, i think, is to hint that women are to blame for various episodes of tragichaos as the underlying spark, yet it is the male characters who actually commit the main offensive actions in his stories, with the women portrayed quite naturally or even admirably. Perhaps Crane is dangling them as a red herring for the reader who'll want an easy explanation. Yet who of any earthly experience can't recognize the power & influence of women in all things social?
In only one sense has The Monster, first published in 1898, failed to age well. This is the shock the modern reader will experience from the old racial stereotypes employed against some of the black characters, their exaggerated dialog, and the outright racism of some of the white characters. Yet Crane makes the latter eventually feel shame or look foolish, as the man who speculates that Henry got tired and knocked over a lamp, starting the fire, only to be rescued by Dr. Trescott. In reality a black man is hero of the story, a white man is the only one loyal to him, and black and white society react in exactly the same way to the "monster."
When it comes to the social stigma of disfigurement, the story is especially relevant today, as face transplants have been in the news. Victims of fire, car accident, shootings, animal maulings, acid attacks, and birth defects all suffer, and only now is there any hope that our relatively primitive medical capabilities can help them lead normal lives. So Henry Johnson is hardly a character merely in fiction, he could be any one of us. I have seen two people in public who could be described as having "no face," and it is virtually impossible not to stare a beat too long at first, or look away quick then glance back at them, wondering what happened. It is a fright instinct that humans have and like it or not we rely on cursory superficial data before the more intelligent forces kick in. Thus, a wounded human being could very easily become a "monster," and disrupt an entire town's sense of peace.
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