Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 2: 1867-1868

Mark Twain

University of California Press, Dec 22, 2023 - Literary Criticism - 704 pages

Here is young Sam Clemens—in the world, getting famous, making love—in 155 magnificently edited letters that trace his remarkable self-transformation from a footloose, irreverent West Coast journalist to a popular lecturer and author of The Jumping Frog, soon to be a national and international celebrity. And on the move he was—from San Francisco to New York, to St. Louis, and then to Paris, Naples, Rome, Athens, Constantinople, Yalta, and the Holy Land; back to New York and on to Washington; back to San Francisco and Virginia City; and on to lecturing in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York. Resplendent with wit, love of life, ambition, and literary craft, this new volume in the wonderful Bancroft Library edition of Mark Twain's Letters will delight and inform both scholars and general readers.



This volume has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mark Twain Foundation, Jane Newhall, and The Friends of The Bancroft Library.


Here is young Sam Clemens—in the world, getting famous, making love—in 155 magnificently edited letters that trace his remarkable self-transformation from a footloose, irreverent West Coast journalist to a popular lecturer and author of The Jumping Fro

Contents

• 18671868: 14
• Genealogies of the Clemens: 375
• Prospectus of the Quaker City Excursion: 381
• Itinerary of the Quaker City Excursion: 389
• Enclosures with the Letters: 399
• Contract for The Innocents Abroad: 421
• Guide to Editorial Practice: 479
• 375: 637

About the author

Mark Twain was born Samuel L. Clemens in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835. He worked as a printer, and then became a steamboat pilot. He traveled throughout the West, writing humorous sketches for newspapers. In 1865, he wrote the short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, which was very well received. He then began a career as a humorous travel writer and lecturer, publishing The Innocents Abroad in 1869, Roughing It in 1872, and, Gilded Age in 1873, which was co-authored with Charles Dudley Warner. His best-known works are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mississippi Writing: Life on the Mississippi, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 2: 1867-1868; Volume 9 of Mark Twain Papers
• Author: Mark Twain
• Editors: Harriet E. Smith, Richard Bucci, Lin Salamo
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: University of California Press, 2023
• ISBN: 0520906071, 9780520906075
• Length: 704 pages
• Subjects: Literary Collections / Letters; Literary Criticism / American / General