Eve's Diary is a comic short story by Mark Twain. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, writer, and lecturer. ...

Cover

It was first published in the 1905 Christmas issue of the magazine Harper's Bazaar, and in book format in June 1906 by Harper and Brothers publishing house. It is written in the style of a diary kept by the first woman in the Judeao-Christian creation story, Eve, and is claimed to be "translated from the original MS." The "plot" of this novel is the first-person account of Eve from her creation up to her burial by, her mate, Adam, including meeting and getting to know Adam, and exploring the world around her, Eden. The story then jumps 40 years into the future after the Fall and expulsion from Eden. It is one of a series of books Twain wrote concerning the story of Adam and Eve, including 'Extracts from Adam's Diary,' 'That Day In Eden,' 'Eve Speaks,' 'Adam's Soliloquy,' and the 'Autobiography of Eve.' Eve's Diary has a lighter tone than the others in the series, as Eve has a strong appreciation for beauty and love. The book may have been written as a posthumous love-letter to Mark Twain's wife Olivia_Langdon_Clemens, or Livy, who died in June 1904, just before the story was written. Mark Twain is quoted as saying, "Eve's Diary is finished — I've been waiting for her to speak, but she doesn't say anything more." The story ends with Adam's speaking at Eve's grave, "Wherever she was, there was Eden." 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Harpers & Queen. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Categories: Corporation stubs ... Creation within belief systems covers creation beliefs that are part of a named system of beliefs. ... Michelangelos The Creation of Eve, a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, shows God creating Eve from the side of Adam. ... Look up plot in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Michelangelos The Creation of Adam, a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, shows God creating Adam, with Eve in His arm. ... The Fall of Man by Lucas Cranach, a 16th century German depiction of Eden The Garden of Eden (from Hebrew Gan Ä’den, גַּן עֵדֶן) (Arabic jannato aden جنة عدن) is described in the Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, lived after they were... Michelangelos Creation of Adam, from the Sistine Chapel. ... Olivia Langdon Clemens (November 27, 1845 - June 5, 1904) was the wife of famous American author, Samuel Langhorne Clemens (known as Mark Twain). ...

Illustrations

Title page illustration

The book version of the story was published with 55 illustrations by Lester Ralph, on each left hand page. These beautiful additions depicted Eve and Adam in their natural settings. Unfortunately, the depiction of an unclothed woman was considered pornographic when the book was first released and created a controversy around the book. One library in Charlton, Massachusetts banned the book for the depictions of Eve in "summer costume." When contacted Twain replied, that "that the action of the Charlton library was not of the slightest interest to him." Two weeks later, after testifying to congress, he elaborated as reported in the Washington Herald, "The whole episode has rather amused me. I have no feeling of vindictiveness over the stand of the librarians there -- I am only amused. You see they did not object to my book; they objected to Lester Ralph's pictures. I wrote the book; I did not make the pictures. I admire the pictures, and I heartily approve them, but I did not make them. Charlton may refer to: // Charlton, Bristol, a village near Filton, Bristol that was demolished in order to extend the runway at Filton Airfield Charlton, Cleveland Charlton, Hampshire Charlton, Hertfordshire Charlton, London Charlton, Northamptonshire Charlton, Northumberland Charlton, Oxfordshire Charlton, Shropshire Charlton, Somerset Charlton, Surrey Charlton, Telford and Wrekin Charlton, West Sussex... This article is about the U.S. State. ...

"It seems curious to me -- some of the incidents in this case. It appears that the pictures in Eve's Diary were first discovered by a lady librarian. When she made the dreadful find, being very careful, she jumped at no hasty conclusions -- not she -- she examined the horrid things in detail. It took her some time to examine them all, but she did her hateful duty! I don't blame her for this careful examination; the time she spent was, I am sure, enjoyable, for I found considerable fascination in them myself.

"Then she took the book to another librarian, a male this time, and he, also, took a long time to examine the unclothed ladies. He must have found something of the same sort of fascination in them that I found...."

Controversial Illustration, page 42

In a letter to a friend, Harriett E. Whitmore, he commented, "the truth is, that when a Library expels a book of mine and leaves an unexpurgated Bible lying around where unprotected youth and age can get hold of it, the deep unconscious irony of it delights me and doesn't anger me." This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library of Congress. ...

External links

• Full text of book, without illustrations
• Illustrated text on Boondocksnet.com
• New York Times article on Massachusetts banning
• Michael Waisman webpage on book, including one illustration and excerpt
• Review of reprint of Excerpt of Adams Diary and Eve's Diary
• Excerpt form Washington Herald article
• Excerpt from letter to Harriett E. Whitmore