
Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 1
1853-1866
Mark Twain(Author)
University of California Press
Will be published approx. on 7. March 1988
Book
Hardback
666 pages
978-0-520-03668-0 (ISBN)
Description
Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 1, 1853-1866 inaugurates the comprehensive edition of Samuel Clemens's correspondence, tracing his transformation from an ambitious journeyman printer into the writer who would become Mark Twain. This first volume gathers letters from Twain's early travels across the United States and his formative years in Nevada and California, culminating in the period just before the publication of The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. The correspondence captures his wit, irreverence, and sharp eye for character, while also offering candid glimpses of his personal struggles, ambitions, and relationships with family and friends.
Edited with full annotation, the letters are accompanied by contextual notes that illuminate Twain's cultural milieu and clarify references to people, events, and places central to his development. They reveal the interplay between Twain's lived experiences-riverboat piloting, mining, and reporting-and his growing literary voice. Together, these documents chronicle the apprenticeship of an American humorist while enriching our understanding of the social and cultural world of mid-nineteenth-century America. This first volume is indispensable to scholars and general readers alike, presenting the raw material of a life that would reshape American literature.
Edited with full annotation, the letters are accompanied by contextual notes that illuminate Twain's cultural milieu and clarify references to people, events, and places central to his development. They reveal the interplay between Twain's lived experiences-riverboat piloting, mining, and reporting-and his growing literary voice. Together, these documents chronicle the apprenticeship of an American humorist while enriching our understanding of the social and cultural world of mid-nineteenth-century America. This first volume is indispensable to scholars and general readers alike, presenting the raw material of a life that would reshape American literature.
More details
Series
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
20 b-w photographs
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
1270 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-03668-0 (9780520036680)
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
Other editions
Additional editions

Edgar Marquess Branch | Michael B. Franck | Kenneth M. Sanderson
Mark Twain's Letters. Volume 1, 1853-1866
1853-1866
E-Book
10/2020
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€122.99
Available for download