JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post

Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), who became Mark Twain in 1863 and then mostly stayed that way, had a great mind and was a superb writer and story teller–he wasn’t necessarily a great inventor, however.  In the ear;y sea of his great achievements, in 1871–just after the publication of his first real best-seller, Innocents Abroad, 1869)–Clemens applied for and was granted a patent for a bra clasp.  I don’t know if it is the bra clasp, or not, but for whatever reason Clemens pursued this interest all the way to the end. 

In the year after the publication of Roughing It, and three years before the publication of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Clemens patented–essentially–a blank book. It was a special book/holder for the very-popular practice of scrap booking, and it seems rather ironic that someone who filled up so many books with words would get a patent for the sale of books that didn’t have any.   Curious.