the following announcement appeared:
QUEEN'S CONCERT ROOMS,
HANOVER SQUARE.
MR. GEORGE DOLBY begs to announce that
MR. MARK TWAIN
WILL DELIVER A
LECTURE
OF A
HUMOROUS CHARACTER,
AS ABOVE, ON
MONDAY EVENING NEXT, OCTOBER 13th, 1873,
AND REPEAT IT IN THE SAME PLACE, ON
TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 14th,
WEDNESDAY " " 15th,
THURSDAY " " 16th,
FRIDAY " " 17th,
At Eight o'Clock,
AND
SATURDAY AFTERNOON, OCTOBER 18th,
At Three o'Clock.
SUBJECT:
"Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands."
As Mr. TWAIN has spent several months in these Islands, and is well
acquainted with his subject, the Lecture may be expected to furnish
matter of interest.
STALLS, 5s. UNRESERVED SEATS, 3s.
The prospect of a lecture from Mark Twain interested the London public.
Those who had not seen him were willing to pay even for that privilege.
The papers were encouraging; Punch sounded a characteristic note:
WELCOME TO A LECTURER
"'Tis time we Twain did show ourselves." 'Twas said
By Caesar, when one Mark had lost his head:
By Mark, whose head's quite bright, 'tis said again:
Therefore, "go with me, friends, to bless this Twain."
--Punch.
Dolby had managed the Dickens lectures, and he proved his sound business
judgment and experience by taking the largest available hall in London
for Mark Twain.
On the evening of October 13th, in the spacious Queen's Concert Rooms,
Hanover Square, Mark Twain delivered his first public address in
England. The subject was "Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands,"
the old lecture with which he had made his first great successes. He was
not introduced. He appeared on the platform in evening dress, assuming
the character of a manager announcing a disappointment.
Mr. Clemens, he said, had fully expected to be present. He paused
and loud murmurs arose from the audience. He lifted his hand and they
subsided. Then he added, "I am happy to say that Mark Twain is present,
and will now give his lecture." Whereupon the audience roare
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