Mark Twain Works & Literature

About Mark Twain

Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835, Mark Twain acquired the idea for his pseudonym while working as a riverboat pilot where “safe water” was marked by calling “mark twain.” Twain first used the name in 1863 on an article for the Nevada Territorial Enterprise. Mark Twain used many of the experiences from his own life as the backdrops of his most famous works. At the age of four, he was first exposed to slavery when his family moved from Florida, Missouri to a tiny port town along the Mississippi river. After having worked as an apprentice printer and written humorous articles and newspaper sketches, Twain got work as a printer in New York, Philledelphia, St. Louis, and Cincinnati at the age of eighteen. In 1857, Twain commenced work as a riverboat pilot until the American Civil War began in 1861. While his friends joined the Confederate Army, Twain headed to the silver-mining town of Virginia City, Nevada with his brother Orion. After failing as a minor, he obtained work at the Daily Territorial Enterprise. Twain's experiences in the West helped shape him as a writer and became the foundation of his second book, Roughing It. However, Twain's greatest contribution to American literature is The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin. Considered the first truly American work of literature, the book attained immense popularity and fame for Twain in his lifetime. After seeing much of his later work go unpublished due to its scientific or truthful nature, Mark Twain died in Redding, Connecticut on April 21, 1910.

E-books In Our Collection

» Huckleberry Finn

» The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

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