Who found Huckleberry Finn?

Sequestered among books, librarians lead relatively anonymous lives. The gatekeepers of knowledge work their way silently through cataloguing, preserving and issuing books. You do not usually read about them in the headlines nor remember their names.

So it was surprising when the demise of Barbara Testa, a modest librarian from Hollywood, was splashed across the pages of The New York Times. The news spread like wildfire and in a matter news and literacy mysteries of the 19th century!

Digging out the past

Rummaging through the attic in her home at Boulder Creek, California in the United States, Testa was looking for something valuable. She stumbled upon an old steamer trunk, which belonged to her grandfather James Gluck, who was a renowned attorney in the 19th century.

While clearing out his old letters and ledgers, she found a 600-page handwritten manuscript. Though its pages were old, the writing in black ink was clear. Her sixth sense started tingling. Her experience as a librarian and familiarity with Twain’s handwriting told her that this was no ordinary document.

And sure enough, it turned out that the manuscript was the missing first half of the original copy of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain. The book is considered to be one of the great American novels penned by Twain.

A strong friendship

So how did it end up in a dusty old box in the attic of a librarian’s home?

Besides being a prominent lawyer, Gluck also loved books and was the curator of the Buffalo library. Collecting manuscripts was his hobby. And he had developed an enviable collection of precious manuscripts including those of Walt Whitman, Louisa May Alcott and Henry James.

Gluck, who was a pen pal of Twain, persuaded him to donate the manuscript of his masterpiece Huckleberry Finn to the library.

Twain was happy to oblige, but admitted that he could not find the first half of the manuscript which he believed to have been destroyed by the printers after the book was published. He sent the second half in 1885. Two years later, Twain found the first half and promptly sent it over to Gluck.

Before his death at the age of 45 in 1895, Gluck donated around 500 literary items to the library. Surprisingly, the first half of Huckleberry Finn was not among them. It is not clear whether the omission was a mere oversight on his part, or he deliberately kept the manuscript aside for his personal collection.

Legal hassles

For whatever reason, the manuscript ended up in an old trunk until Testa discovered it. Delighted, she sent the manuscript to Sotheby for authentication and planned to auction it off for a handsome sum. Its legitimacy was confirmed and its worth was estimated to be around $1.5 million.

However, when the news of the manuscript leaked out, the Buffalo library filed a legal suit to prevent Testa or her family members from selling it. The dispute was eventually settled and the manuscript went to the library. Testa allegedly received a finder’s fee of $1 million.

Reunion

Testa’s discovery helped in reuniting the first and second halves of the draft of Twain’s classic novel. Once the manuscripts were studied together, scholars were able to see the extensive changes the author and his editors had made to the novel. Huge chunks of the story had been cut by the editors.

With the help of the manuscripts, scholars were able to restore some deleted scenes. One such scene was the one in which Huckleberry Finn and Jim, the runaway slave, hide in a cave while discussing ghosts. It was added to the reprints of the book. The scene adds tremendous value to the story and remains unforgettable even today.

Testa deserves credit for the amazing discovery that enhanced the story of Huckleberry Finn. Similarly, the Buffalo library’s prompt action ensured that the manuscript didn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Significance

Twain is one of the most celebrated American authors.

Huckleberry Finn was first published in 1884 in the U.K. It is a first-person account of Huckleberry ‘Huck’ Finn, the narrator of three other Twain novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom Sawyer, Detective and Tom Sawyer Abroad. It is a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

The book is known for its colourful descriptions of people living in the Mississippi belt. It is considered to be a scathing satire on slavery and racism.

Huck is described as a young misfit, who wears cast-off clothes and sleeps in doorways and empty barrels. The character is believed to be based on Tom Blankenship, Twain’s childhood friend.

Twain wrote the book over a period of seven years. He wrote 400 pages in 1876 and finished the book after a long break.

 

Picture Credit : Google