Mark Twain's Black Muse
The Life and Legacy of His Butler, George Griffin
Will be published approx. on 2. February 2027
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-1-4930-9843-9 (ISBN)
Description
The first comprehensive biography of the former slave who became the inspiration for a literary icon
Mark Twain’s butler George Griffin has long been recognized as a model for Jim, the runaway slave in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Griffin’s years with Twain’s family in Hartford are well documented, but until now his earlier and later years have been terra incognita. Drawing upon newly discovered photographic evidence and documents, this first full biography of Griffin reconstructs his childhood as a slave in Maryland, his time as a Union general’s body servant during the Civil War, his postwar education as a servant, his 17 years working for Twain, and his final years, when he became acquainted with New York high society (including two presidents and a multimillionaire media magnate), started a family, and accumulated wealth as a private banker and gambler. Griffin’s story is a dramatic tale of triumphs and tragedies, and even contains some Zelig-like moments when he was an eye-witness to key Civil War battles (and may have even met Abraham Lincoln) and later lived next door to Harriet Beecher Stowe. Like Mark Twain, Griffin was a self-educated and self-made man whose remarkable story can now finally be told. It is a story that illuminates much of the Black experience in America.
Mark Twain’s butler George Griffin has long been recognized as a model for Jim, the runaway slave in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Griffin’s years with Twain’s family in Hartford are well documented, but until now his earlier and later years have been terra incognita. Drawing upon newly discovered photographic evidence and documents, this first full biography of Griffin reconstructs his childhood as a slave in Maryland, his time as a Union general’s body servant during the Civil War, his postwar education as a servant, his 17 years working for Twain, and his final years, when he became acquainted with New York high society (including two presidents and a multimillionaire media magnate), started a family, and accumulated wealth as a private banker and gambler. Griffin’s story is a dramatic tale of triumphs and tragedies, and even contains some Zelig-like moments when he was an eye-witness to key Civil War battles (and may have even met Abraham Lincoln) and later lived next door to Harriet Beecher Stowe. Like Mark Twain, Griffin was a self-educated and self-made man whose remarkable story can now finally be told. It is a story that illuminates much of the Black experience in America.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Old Saybrook
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Paper over boards
Weight
376 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4930-9843-9 (9781493098439)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Kevin Mac Donnell earned his MLS at the University of Texas and serves on the editorial boards of the Mark Twain Journal and Firsts Magazine. His essays on Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Richard Henry Dana, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Russell Lowell, Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, librarianship, and antiquarian bookselling have appeared in numerous books and journals. He co-edited (with Alan Gribben) Mark Twain's Rubaiyat (Jenkins/Karpeles, 1983), contributed articles to the Mark Twain Encyclopedia (Garland, 1993), co-edited (with R. Kent Rasmussen) Mark Twain and Youth (Bloomsbury, 2016), and has reviewed over sixty books for the Mark Twain Forum. His discovery of the probable source of Mark Twain’s nom de plume went viral on Salon.com and The Huffington Post, and was cited as "research of note" by The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2013. He was honored as a Mark Twain Legacy Scholar by the Mark Twain Journal in 2016. His collection of more than 11,000 Mark Twain items—first editions, letters, photographs, archives, manuscripts, and artifacts—is the largest in private hands, and is frequently shared with other scholars and museums. A complete list of his published essays, book chapters, book reviews, conference papers, lectures, interviews, and Mark Twain House & Museum annual lectures can be found at academia.edu. He lives in Austin, Texas.
Content
Foreword by Joe B. Fulton
Introduction
The Life of George Griffin
1. A Child Enslaved in Maryland
2. A Teenager’s Front-Row Seat in the American Civil War
3. A War Veteran Pursues a Profession
4. George Joins the Clemens Family
5. George and New York High Society
The Afterlife of Mr. Griffin
6. Mr. Griffin Face-to-Face
7. Mr. Griffin’s Contribution to Jim
Epilogue: Mr. Griffin’s Legacy
Introduction
The Life of George Griffin
1. A Child Enslaved in Maryland
2. A Teenager’s Front-Row Seat in the American Civil War
3. A War Veteran Pursues a Profession
4. George Joins the Clemens Family
5. George and New York High Society
The Afterlife of Mr. Griffin
6. Mr. Griffin Face-to-Face
7. Mr. Griffin’s Contribution to Jim
Epilogue: Mr. Griffin’s Legacy