Mark Twain Biography
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Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April
21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was a famous and popular
American humorist, novelist, writer and lecturer.
At his peak, he was probably the most popular
American celebrity of his time. William Faulkner wrote he was "the first truly
American writer, and all of us since are his heirs." Clemens maintained that the
name "Mark Twain" came from his years on the riverboat, where two fathoms (12
ft, approximately 3.7 m) or "safe water" was measured on the sounding line, was
marked by calling "mark twain". But it is often thought that the name actually
came from his wilder days in the West, where he would buy two drinks and tell
the bartender to "mark twain" on his tab. The true origin is unknown. In
addition to Mark Twain, Clemens used the pseudonym "Sieur Louis de Conte". (More
under "Pen names," below.)
****
Early
life
Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida,
Missouri, the third of four surviving children of John and Jane Clemens.
While he was still a baby, the family moved to the
river town of Hannibal, Missouri, hoping their fortunes would improve there. It
was this town and its inhabitants that the author Mark Twain later put to such
imaginative use in his most famous works, especially The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer (1876).
Clemens' father died in 1847, leaving many debts.
The oldest son, Orion, soon began publishing a newspaper and Sam began
contributing to it as a journeyman printer and occasional writer. Some of the
liveliest and most controversial stories in Orion's paper came from the pen of
his younger brother--usually when Orion was out of town. Clemens also traveled
to St. Louis and New York City to earn a living as a printer.
But the lure of the Mississippi eventually drew
Clemens to a career as a steamboat pilot, a profession he later claimed would
have held him to the end of his days, recounting his experiences in his book
Life on the Mississippi (1883). But the Civil War and the advent of railroads
put an end to commercial steamboat traffic in 1861, and Clemens had to look for
a new job.
After a brief stint with a local militia (an
experience he recounted in his short story, "The Private History of a Campaign
That Failed" in 1885), he escaped further contact with the war by going west in
July of 1861 with Orion, who had been appointed secretary to the territorial
governor of Nevada. The two traveled for two weeks across the Plains by
stagecoach to the silver-mining town of Virginia City, Nevada.
Roughing it Out West
Clemens' experiences out West formed him as a
writer and became the basis of his second book, Roughing It. Once in Nevada he
became a miner, hoping to strike it rich digging up silver in the Comstock Lode
and staying for long periods in camp with his fellow prospectors--another mode
of living that he later put to literary use. Failing as a miner, he fell into
newspaper work in Virginia City for the Territorial Enterprise, where he adopted
the pen name "Mark Twain" for the first time. In 1864, he moved down to San
Francisco and wrote for several papers there.
In 1865, Twain had his first literary success. At
the behest of humorist Artemus Ward (whom he had met and befriended in Virginia
City during Ward's lecture tour of 1863), he submitted a humorous short story
for a collection Ward was publishing. The story arrived too late for that book,
but the publisher passed it to the Saturday Press. That story, originally
entitled "Jim Smiley and his Jumping Frog" but now better known as "The
Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," was reprinted nationwide, and
called by Atlantic Monthly editor James Russell Lowell "the finest piece of
humorous literature yet produced in America."
In the spring of 1866 he was commissioned by the
Sacramento Union newspaper to travel to the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) to
write a series of letters reporting on his journey there. On his return to San
Francisco, the success of the letters and the personal encouragement of Colonel
John McComb (publisher of San Francisco's Alta California newspaper) led him to
try his hand at the lecture circuit, renting the Academy of Music and charging a
dollar a head admission. "Doors open at 7 o'clock," Twain wrote on the
advertising poster. "The trouble to begin at 8 o'clock."
The first lecture was a wild success, and soon
Twain was traveling up and down the state, lecturing and entertaining to packed
houses.
First
book
But it was another trip that established his fame
as an author. Twain convinced Col. McComb of the Alta California to pay for
Twain's passage aboard the steam packet Quaker City on an American excursion to
Europe and the Middle East. The resulting letters Twain produced for the
newspaper reporting on the trip formed the basis of his first book, The
Innocents Abroad, a large and humorous travelogue that pointedly failed to
worship Old World arts and conventions. Sold by subscription, the book became
hugely popular and put its author in a spotlight he never willingly relinquished
for the rest of his life.
After the success of Innocents Abroad he married
Olivia Langdon in 1870 and moved to Buffalo, New York, then to Hartford,
Connecticut. They had four children Langdon, Susy, Clara, and Jean. Langdon died
in 1872, and the three other were born between 1872 and 1880. During this
period, he lectured often in the United States and England.
Later he wrote as an avid critic of American
society. He wrote about politics with his Life on the Mississippi.
Pen
names: Mark Twain, Sieur Louis de Conte
The author's own version of how he took his more
famous pen name, Mark Twain, is interesting. In chapter 50 of Life on the
Mississippi, he says he borrowed it from Captain Isaiah Sellers, a riverboat
captain who "... used to jot down brief paragraphs of plain, practical
information about the river, and sign them 'MARK TWAIN,' and give them to the
New Orleans Picayune...
"It so chanced that one of these paragraphs became
the text for my first newspaper article. I burlesqued it broadly... I showed my
performance to some pilots, and they eagerly rushed it into print in the 'New
Orleans True Delta.' It was a great pity; for it did nobody any worthy service,
and it sent a pang deep into a good man's heart. There was no malice in my
rubbish; but it laughed at the captain. It laughed at a man to whom such a thing
was new and strange and dreadful...He never printed another paragraph while he
fresh new journalist, and needed a nom de guerre; so I confiscated the ancient
mariner's discarded one, and have done my best to make it remain what it was in
his hands—a sign and symbol and warrant that whatever is found in its company
may be gambled on as being the petrified truth; how I have succeeded, it would
not be modest in me to say."
Modern scholars, however, have investigated this
version of the origin of Twain's pseuodonym and found that although Isaiah
Sellers, indeed, was an actual writer, whom Clemens parodied early in his
career, there is no evidence that Sellers ever used the name "Mark Twain."
Clemens used the pseudonym "Sieur Louis de Conte"
as his pen name for his fictionalized biography of Joan of Arc (1896).
Career
overview
Twain's greatest contribution to American
literature is generally considered to be the novel Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn. As Ernest Hemingway himself said:
"All modern American literature comes from one book
by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. ...all American writing comes from that.
There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since."
Also popular are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The
Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and the
non-fictional Life on the Mississippi.
Twain began as a writer of light humorous verse; he
ended as a grim, almost profane chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies and acts
of killing committed by mankind. At mid-career, with Huckleberry Finn, he
combined rich humor, sturdy narrative and social criticism in a way almost
unrivaled in world literature.
Twain was a master at rendering colloquial speech,
and helped to create and popularize a distinctive American literature, built on
American themes and language.
Twain had a fascination with science and scientific
inquiry. Twain developed a close and lasting friendship with Nikola Tesla. They
spent quite a bit of time together from time to time (in Tesla's laboratory,
among other places). A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court featured a time
traveller from the America of Twain's day who used his knowledge of science to
introduce modern technology to Arthurian England. Twain also patented an
improvement in adjustable and detachable straps for garments.
Twain was a major figure in the American
Anti-Imperialist League, which opposed the annexation of the Philippines by the
United States. He wrote "Incident in the Philippines", posthumously published in
1924, in response to the Moro Crater Massacre, in which six hundred Moros were
killed.
In recent years, there have been occasional
attempts to ban Huckleberry Finn from various libraries, because Twain's use of
local color offends some people. Although Twain was against racism and
imperialism far in front of public sentiment of his time, some with only
superficial familiarity of his work have condemned it as racist for its accurate
depiction of the language in common use in the United States in the 19th
century. Expressions that were used casually and unselfconsciously then are
often perceived today as racism (in present times, such racial epithets are far
more visible and condemned). Twain himself would probably be amused by these
attempts; in 1885, when a library in Massachusetts banned the book, he wrote to
his publisher, "They have expelled Huck from their library as 'trash suitable
only for the slums', that will sell 25,000 copies for us for sure."
Many of Mark Twain's works have been suppressed at
times for one reason or another. 1880 saw the publication of an anonymous slim
volume entitled 1601: Conversation, as it was by the Social Fireside, in the
Time of the Tudors. Twain was among those rumored to be the author, but the
issue was not settled until 1906, when Twain acknowledged his literary paternity
of this scatological masterpiece.
Twain at least saw 1601 published during his
lifetime. Twain wrote an anti-war article entitled "The War Prayer" during the
Spanish-American War. It was submitted for publication, but on March 22, 1905,
Harper's Bazaar rejected it as "not quite suited to a woman's magazine." Eight
days later, Twain wrote to his friend Dan Beard, to whom he had read the story,
"I don't think the prayer will be published in my time. None but the dead are
permitted to tell the truth." Because he had an exclusive contract with Harper &
Brothers, Mark Twain could not publish "The War Prayer" elsewhere and it
remained unpublished until 1923.
In his later life Twain's family suppressed some of
his work which was especially irreverent toward conventional religion, notably
Letters from the Earth, which was not published until 1962. The anti-religious
The Mysterious Stranger was published in 1916.
Perhaps most controversial of all was Mark Twain's
1879 humorous talk at the Stomach Club in Paris entitled Some Thoughts on the
Science of Onanism (masturbation), which concluded with the thought "If you must
gamble your lives sexually, don't play a lone hand too much." This talk was not
published until 1943, and then only in a limited edition of fifty copies.
Later
life and friendship with Henry H. Rogers
Twain's fortunes then began to decline; in his
later life, Twain was a very depressed man, but still capable. Following the
erroneous publication of a premature obituary in the New York Journal, Twain
famously responded: "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated" (June 2nd
1897).
He lost 3 out of 4 of his children, and his beloved
wife, Olivia Langdon, before his death in 1910. He also had some very bad times
with his businesses. His publishing company ended up going bankrupt, and he lost
thousands of dollars on one typesetting machine that was never finished. He also
lost a great deal of revenue on royalties from his books being plagiarized
before he even had a chance to publish them himself.
In 1893, Twain was introduced to industrialist and
financier Henry H. Rogers, one of the principals of Standard Oil. Rogers
reorganized Twain's tangled finances, and the two became close friends for the
rest of their lives. Rogers' family became Twain's surrogate family and Twain
was a frequent guest at the Rogers townhouse in New York City and summer home in
Fairhaven, Massachusetts. The two were drinking and poker buddies. In 1907, they
traveled together in Rogers' yacht Kanawha to the Jamestown Exposition held at
Sewell's Point near Norfolk, Virginia in celebration of the 300th anniversary of
the founding of the Jamestown Colony.
While Twain openly credited Rogers with saving him
from financial ruin, there is also substantial evidence in their published
correspondence that the close friendship in their later years was mutually
beneficial, apparently softening at least somewhat the hard-driving
industrialist Rogers, who had apparently earned the nickname "Hell Hound Rogers"
when helping build Standard Oil earlier in his career. In one of history's
ironies, Rogers was introduced by Twain to investigative journalist Ida Tarbell,
who is widely credited with exposing the dark side of Standard Oil, and did so
largely through information she obtained through meetings with Rogers. During
the years of their friendship, influenced by Twain, Rogers helped finance the
education of Helen Keller and made substantial contributions to Dr. Booker T.
Washington. After Rogers' death, Dr. Washington revealed that Rogers (with a
much-hated public persona) had been generously funding many small country
schools and institutions of higher education in the South for the betterment and
education of African Americans for over 15 years.
Although by this late date he was in marginal
health, in April, 1909, Twain returned to Norfolk with Rogers, and was a guest
speaker at the dedication dinner held for the newly completed Virginian Railway,
a "Mountains to Sea" engineering marvel of the day. The construction of the new
railroad had been solely financed by industrialist Rogers.
When Rogers died suddenly in New York less than two
months later. Twain, on his way by train from Connecticut to visit Rogers, was
met with the news at Grand Central Station the same morning by his daughter. His
grief-stricken reaction was widely reported. He served as one of the
pall-bearers at the Rogers funeral in New York later that week. When he declined
to ride the funeral train from New York on to Fairhaven, Massachusetts for the
internment, he stated that he could not undertake to travel that distance among
those whom he knew so well, and with whom he must of necessity join in
conversation.
Twain himself died less than one year later. He
wrote in 1909, "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next
year, and I expect to go out with it." And so he did. Halley's comet can be seen
in the Earth's skies once every 75-76 years. It was visible on November 30,
1835, when Mark Twain was born and was also visible on April 21, 1910, when he
died (although the exact dates of Halley's highpoint were November 16th and
April 10th, respectively).
After his death, one of the prominant figures who
paid public tribute to him was the President of the United States at the time,
William H. Taft. In his words, "Mark Twain gave real intellectual enjoyment to
millions, and his works will continue to give such pleasures to millions yet to
come. He never wrote a line that a father could not read to a daughter." (Taft
was presumably unaware of 1601).
Museums
and attractions
Twain's Hartford, Connecticut home is a museum and
National Historic Landmark, known as The Mark Twain House. Twain also lived in
the latter part of the 19th century in Elmira, New York where he had met his
wife, and had many close ties. He and many members of his family lie buried in a
wooded knoll in Woodlawn National Cemetery there. A small octagonal study, given
to him as a gift when he lived at Quarry Farm east of Elmira and in which he
wrote parts or all of several works, is now located on the grounds of Elmira
College.
The big town of Hannibal, Missouri is another town
that features many Mark Twain attractions including a boyhood house of his and
the caverns he used to explore that are featured in The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer.
Two American steam-powered paddle boats travelling
the Rivers of America attractions at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris are named
after Mark Twain. An Audio-Animatronic Mark Twain and Benjamin Franklin host The
American Adventure show at Epcot.
Mark
Twain as a character
Hal Holbrook famously portrayed Mark Twain in a
one-man show on stage and on television
Sam Clemens is a character in Philip José Farmer's
Riverworld. In the film version he is portrayed by actor Cameron Daddo.
The journalist Clemens makes an appearance in Neil
Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman, in issue #31, "Three Septembers and a
January", where he is proclaimed Royal Storyteller by the Emperor of the United
States, Norton I.
Samuel Clemens is a character in the Star Trek: The
Next Generation episodes "Time's Arrow Part I"and "Time's Arrow Part II",
portrayed by actor Jerry Hardin.
Samuel Clemens appears as a viewpoint character in
Harry Turtledove's book How Few Remain.
Robert A. Heinlein modeled the father of Maureen in
To Sail Beyond the Sunset after Mark Twain, and included him as a minor
character in one scene.
Major character in The Adventures of Mark Twain, a
film in claymation by Will Vinton Studios.
Samuel Clemens arrives in Virginia City, Nevada, in
an episode of Bonanza as a reporter who causes some trouble for the Cartwrights.
Bibliography
(1867) The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras
County (fiction)
(1869) Innocents Abroad (non-fiction travel)
(1871) Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography and
First Romance (fiction)
(1872) Roughing It (non-fiction)
(1873) The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (fiction)
(1875) Sketches New and Old (fictional stories)
(1876) Old Times on the Mississippi (non-fiction)
(1876) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (fiction)
(1877) A True Story and the Recent Carnival of
Crime (stories)
(1878) Punch, Brothers, Punch! and other Sketches
(fictional stories)
(1880) A Tramp Abroad (non-fiction travel)
(1880) 1601: Conversation, as it was by the Social
Fireside, in the Time of the Tudors (fiction)
(1882) The Prince and the Pauper (fiction)
(1883) Life on the Mississippi (non-fiction)
(1884) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (fiction)
(1889) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
(fiction)
(1892) The American Claimant (fiction)
(1892) Merry Tales (fictional stories)
(1893) The £1,000,000 Bank Note and Other New
Stories (fictional stories)
(1894) Tom Sawyer Abroad (fiction)
(1894) Pudd'n'head Wilson (fiction)
(1896) Tom Sawyer, Detective (fiction)
(1896) Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
(fiction)
(1897) How to Tell a Story and other Essays
(non-fictional essays)
(1897) Following the Equator (non-fiction travel)
(1900) The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (fiction)
(1901) Edmund Burke on Croker and Tammany
(political satire)
(1902) A Double Barrelled Detective Story'
(fiction)
(1904) A Dog's Tale (fiction)
(1905) King Leopold's Soliloquy (political satire)
(1905) The War Prayer (fiction)
(1906) The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories
(fiction)
(1906) What Is Man? (essay)
(1907) Christian Science (non-fiction)
(1907) A Horse's Tale (fiction)
(1907) Is Shakespeare Dead? (non-fiction)
(1909) Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven
(fiction)
(1909) Letters from the Earth (fiction, published
posthumously)
(1916) The Mysterious Stranger (fiction, published
posthumously)
(1924) Mark Twain's Autobiography (non-fiction,
published posthumously)
****
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