Twain, Mark -- Note (1897-05-31), paraphrased

Dave — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 22:49:20 +0000

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Note (1897-05-31), paraphrased
(Source)

This was based on a statement Mark Twain gave to Frank Marshall White, a British correspondent of the New York Journal (later misremembered by Twain as the New York Evening Sun). White had received a cable from America on 1897-05-28 to get information that Twain was on his deathbed. White tracked him down in London and gave a written inquiry. Twain wrote out a note (with a number of emendations) saying:

James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness; the report of my death was an exaggeration.

White's article with the response was published on the front page of the Journal on 1897-06-02. The longhand note is still preserved. Twain also recorded it in his notebook that same day.

In 1906, Twain recalled the incident for his memoir that he told the reporter (verbally), "Say the report is exaggerated." On retyping the manuscript 1906-04-03, he scribbled the word "greatly" in front of "exaggerated," and it was published that way in "Chapters from My Autobiography," The North American Review, Vol. 183, No. 599 (1906-09-21).

In Albert B. Paine's Mark Twain, a Biography, Vol. 2, ch. 197 (1912), the story is that Twain told the correspondent, "Just say the report of my death has been grossly exaggerated." In the 1935 edition, this was changed to the text from the original note.

Bernard DeVoto's 1940 Twain autobiography, Mark Twain in Eruption, uses the North American Review version, without the "greatly."

Further discussion and details:

WIST Quotations

Twain, Mark -- Note (1897-05-31), paraphrased