TRAMP ART CARVING OF THE STEAMBOAT ST. LOUIS

[TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] TRAMP ART CARVING OF THE STEAMBOAT ST. LOUIS. [n.p., n.d., circa 1900-02] 11 x 14 inches, pine or cypress table top, carved to depict the St. Louis harbor steamboat `Port of St. Louis' which was rechristened the `Mark Twain' when Twain himself piloted her around the harbor during his visit in 1902, a few days after his famous visit to his boyhood home in Hannibal. Although there were several steamboats named in Twain's honor during his lifetime, this is the only one he was ever directly connected with in any way, and was in fact, the last steamboat he ever piloted. Unsure of a possible snag he saw rippling in the water ahead, he turned over the wheel to the boat's regular pilot midway through his harbor excursion, feigning fatigue. The boat was renamed as part of St. Louis' preparations for the 1904 St. Louis World Fair, but within a few years the old boat (originally built in 1873 as the `Elon Smith' and renamed the `St. Louis' in 1882) was leaking and breaking down, leading to annoying headlines in the local papers like "Mark Twain in Need of Repairs" and "Mark Twain's Boilers Explode." This carving is typical "tramp art" carved by river-front starving artists for the tourist trade of the day; it was obviously carved before the rechristening. Excellent condition. Rasmussen, pp. 303-4. Paine, BIOGRAPHY, III:1173-5.