Eccentricities of genius : memories of famous men and women of the platform…

"Eccentricities of genius : memories of famous men and women of the platform…" by Major J. B. Pond is a collection of reminiscences and character sketches written in the late 19th century. From the vantage point of a leading lecture manager, it surveys orators, preachers, actors, humorists, explorers, and authors who animated the lyceum and the stage, mixing backstage anecdotes with public portraits. The emphasis is on the quirks, habits, and magnetism ... Read More that made them draw crowds, and on the culture of the lecture platform itself. The result is a lively insider’s tour of the era’s great public voices. The opening of the volume presents title matter, a contents and illustration list, and a playful preface stitched from other writers’ prefaces, then shifts to Pond’s own origin story: a frontier, abolitionist upbringing; a printer’s apprenticeship; time in “Bleeding Kansas”; and later journalism in Utah that led to managing Ann Eliza Young’s sensational lectures and a swift national stir. He recounts acquiring the Redpath Bureau, his credo for approaching famous people, and signals the book’s scope across orators, clergy, women lecturers, humorists, explorers, actors, and authors. The first profiles elevate the “triumvirate” of Gough, Beecher, and Wendell Phillips, then sketch Garrison, Sumner, Depew, Horace Porter, Ingersoll, Frederick Douglass, and Booker T. Washington with brisk judgments and vivid anecdotes. The section on Beecher becomes an intimate travel memoir, including Southern appearances where initial hostility turned to ovations—most memorably in Richmond—showcasing Beecher’s courage, persuasive power, and gift for reconciliation. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Show Less

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Author	Pond, James B. (James Burton), 1838-1903
LoC No.	38000641
Title	Eccentricities of genius : memories of famous men and women of the platform and stage
Contents	Orators: The Triumvirate of Lecture Kings. John B. Gough. Wendell Phillips. William Lloyd Garrison. Charles Sumner. Chauncey M. Depew. Gen. Horace Porter. Col. Robert G. Ingersoll. Frederick Douglass. Booker T. Washington -- Pulpit orators: Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott. Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis. Rev. Dr. Joseph Parker. Rev. T. De Witt Talmage. Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon. Rt. Rev. Bishop Henry C. Potter. Very Rev. S. Reynolds Hole. Rt. Rev. Dr. Boyd Carpenter, Bishop of Ripon. Very Rev. Charles William Stubbs, D.D. -- Women lecturers and singers: Susan B. Anthony. Julia Ward Howe. Anna E. Dickinson. Mary Livermore. Lucy Stone. Clara Louise Kellogg. Emma Abbott. Helen Potter. Annie Grey. Maud Ballington Booth. Mary Proctor -- Humorists: Josh Billings. Thomas Nast. Petroleum V. Nasby. Samuel L. Clemens. Mark Twain and George W. Cable. Mark Twain, Nasby, and Josh Billings. Paul Blouet (Max O'Rell). Bill Nye. James Whitcomb Riley -- Explorers, travellers, and war correspondents: Sir Henry M. Stanley. George Kennan. Frederick Villiers. Dr. Frederick A. Cook. Robert E. Peary. Capt. Joshua Slocum. John L. Stoddard -- Actors and dramatic critics: Joseph Jefferson. William Winter. Sir Henry Irving. Charlotte Cushman. Ellen Terry -- Literary lecturers: Matthew Arnold. John Boyle O'Reilly. Hamilton W. Mabie. Ralph Waldo Emerson. William Dean Howells. George William Curtis -- Orators: The Triumvirate of Lecture Kings. John B. Gough. Wendell Phillips. William Lloyd Garrison. Charles Sumner. Chauncey M. Depew. Gen. Horace Porter. Col. Robert G. Ingersoll. Frederick Douglass. Booker T. Washington -- Pulpit orators: Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott. Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis. Rev. Dr. Joseph Parker. Rev. T. De Witt Talmage. Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon. Rt. Rev. Bishop Henry C. Potter. Very Rev. S. Reynolds Hole. Rt. Rev. Dr. Boyd Carpenter, Bishop of Ripon. Very Rev. Charles William Stubbs, D.D. -- Women lecturers and singers: Susan B. Anthony. Julia Ward Howe. Anna E. Dickinson. Mary Livermore. Lucy Stone. Clara Louise Kellogg. Emma Abbott. Helen Potter. Annie Grey. Maud Ballington Booth. Mary Proctor -- Humorists: Josh Billings. Thomas Nast. Petroleum V. Nasby. Samuel L. Clemens. Mark Twain and George W. Cable. Mark Twain, Nasby, and Josh Billings. Paul Blouet (Max O'Rell). Bill Nye. James Whitcomb Riley -- Explorers, travellers, and war correspondents: Sir Henry M. Stanley. George Kennan. Frederick Villiers. Dr. Frederick A. Cook. Robert E. Peary. Capt. Joshua Slocum. John L. Stoddard -- Actors and dramatic critics: Joseph Jefferson. William Winter. Sir Henry Irving. Charlotte Cushman. Ellen Terry -- Literary lecturers: Matthew Arnold. John Boyle O'Reilly. Hamilton W. Mabie. Ralph Waldo Emerson. William Dean Howells. George William Curtis.
Credits	Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Language	English
LoC Class	CT: History: Biography
Subject	Biography -- 19th century
Subject	Authors -- 19th century -- Biography
Subject	Lecturers -- Biography
Subject	Entertainers -- Biography
Category	Text
EBook-No.	76861
Release Date	Sep 12, 2025
Copyright Status	Public domain in the USA.
Downloads	396 downloads in the last 30 days.
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