In 1884, after four years in the …show more content…
This account is the source of much of what is known about Merrick, but there were several inaccuracies in the book. Merrick never completely confided in Treves about his early life, so these details were consequently sketchy in Treves's Reminiscences. A more mysterious error is that of Merrick's first name. Treves, in his earlier journal articles as well as his book, insisted on calling him John Merrick. The reason for this is unclear; Merrick clearly signed his name as "Joseph" in the examples of his handwriting that remain. In the handwritten manuscript for The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences, Treves began his account by writing "Joseph" and then crossed it out and replaced it with "John". Whatever the reason for the error, it is one that persisted throughout much of the 20th century; later biographers who based their work on Treves's book have continued the