# Did Mark Twain write an essay on farting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2000, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mark-twain-write-an-essay-on-farting/43188 "2000-11-29T15:04:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Azazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Azazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azazel)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mark-twain-write-an-essay-on-farting/43188/1 "2000-11-29T15:04:00Z")
Allan Sherman in “The Rape of the **A** merican **P** uritan **E** thic” states that Mark Twain authored a supposedly hilarious treatise on farting. I believe the title was “Six Sixty-six”. It, according to Sherman, was never published, but was written out in longhand and circulated privately amongst the Author’s friends. What I would like to know is, does anyone out there have knowledge of this? Is there a site that contains a reference to it, or better yet, a reproduction? I know that if any information is out there, the Dopers can find it. 🙂 I decided to put this in GQ because I am asking for help and information from the Teeming Millions. However, if it would be more appropriately placed in MPSIMS, then -no problemo- 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mark-twain-write-an-essay-on-farting/43188/2 "2000-11-29T15:20:01Z")
I have heard that Benjamin Franklin wrote one called “Fart Proudly”. I haven’t heard about the Mark Twain essay, but I do know he wrote one on masturbation. I’ve read exerpts that were hilarious. He wrote on damn near everything else, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a flatulence essay as well. ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mark-twain-write-an-essay-on-farting/43188/3 "2000-11-29T15:25:47Z")
Just for fun, here a a link that give the text of the Mark Twain onanism essay: [http://www.ralphmag.org/onan.html](http://www.ralphmag.org/onan.html) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mark-twain-write-an-essay-on-farting/43188/4 "2000-11-29T15:29:32Z")
Marl Twain’s book WAS published. I heard that Secretary of State John Hay arranged for copies to be run off on the press at West Point. The title wasn’t 666, but “1603”, and it wasn’t an essay, but a story set in that year. It’s a conversation between Queen Elizabeth and the members of her court (Sir Walter Raleigh, etc.) about who was responsible for the fart. Twain reportedly wanted to show how people REALLY conversed in those days. I’ve read brief excerpts, but not the whole thing. If you look hard enough you ought to be able to find it, or parts of it. Look in one of the embarrassingly many books on farts. ---
**Author:** ![Humble\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/47e85d/32.png) [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mark-twain-write-an-essay-on-farting/43188/5 "2000-11-29T16:47:45Z")
The essay is [here](http://home.eunet.pt/~timoteo/page24.html). ---
**Author:** ![Azazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Azazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azazel)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mark-twain-write-an-essay-on-farting/43188/6 "2000-11-29T18:41:29Z")
You 'uns are fantastic! I searched for months for that and eventually gave up. I even had a thought that maybe this was just an Urban Legend (like 90 percent of the stories I grew up with). Anyhow, thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Uniball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Uniball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniball)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mark-twain-write-an-essay-on-farting/43188/7 "2000-11-29T19:26:49Z")
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. Looks like a promising beginning for an essay about farting, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mark-twain-write-an-essay-on-farting/43188/8 "2000-11-30T02:45:22Z")
Just last week I saw a copy of the Ben Franklin opus “Fart Proudly” in a bookstore, along with several of his other “improper” works. One quote I’ve heard attributed to Twain is, “Of all life’s pleasures, copulation is the most over-rated and evacuation the most under-rated.” Or words to that effect. Can any of you Twain experts verify the quote and point to the source?