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Mark Twain
Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 2
1867-1868
$80.00, £57.50 hardcover
978-0-520-03669-7
Available Now
703 pages, 6 x 9 inches,
February 1990, Available worldwide
Categories: Literary Studies; American Literature; Mark Twain; Autobiography; Letters
February 1990, Available worldwide
Categories: Literary Studies; American Literature; Mark Twain; Autobiography; Letters
"The magnificent University of California Press edition of everything that Mark Twain wrote continues."—William B. Hunter, Houston Chronicle
"We don't read letters much anymore, to say nothing of writing them, and that's a loss. How much of a loss is readily apparent at every turn in this handsome and meticulously edited volume. . . . The book is great fun, and it gives us as intimate a glimpse of Mark Twain as we are likely to have."—Charles H. Gold, Chicago Sun-Times
"distinguished by meticulous editorial standards and exacting scholarship. The letters of few other authors have been handled with such exhaustive and intelligent care. . . When completed, Mark Twain's Letters will constitute a comprehensive autobiography of a major American author."—M. T. Inge, Choice
"scrupulously annotated, richly illustrated, definitive"—Charles C. Nash, Library Journal
"a splendidly conceived and brilliantly achieved edition of Clemens's letters"—Nineteenth-Century Literature
"Few things, as Pudd'nhead observed, are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example, and this building collection of the letters is horribly, excruciatingly good. It sets standards of diligence that will cause future editors of writers' letters to weep."—Jonathan Raban, Times Literary Supplement
"In all, Mark Twain's Letters is scholarship at its best—charming and readable texts, informative and accessible commentary, all at a reasonable price."—Gary Scharnhorst, California History
"the first two volumes of Mark Twain's Letters that have now been published by the University of California Press . . . are models of scrupulous scholarship, containing everything the reader could conceivably want to know."—Geoffrey C. Ward, American Heritage
"a magisterial accomplishment"—Robert E. Gunderson, The Californians
"In the tradition established by volume I, the letters are meticulously annotated, providing a virtual documentary biography of Mark Twain for this period. This has the makings of a magnificent edition."—Robert Sattelmeyer, American Literary Scholarship
"anyone who studies the life and career of Sam Clemens will be grateful for the effort the Mark Twain Project demonstrates in this volumeæand in all its work. . . . Altogether the editorial effort is truly astonishing."—James E. Caron, Biography
"the attempt to present Twain's correspondence chronologically and in its entirety is a completely new undertaking that should be expected to have its own impact on Twain studies. It may at least be conjectured, for instance, that the obsession of many scholars with Twain's 'fragmented' personality may in part be an effect of the piecemeal fashion in which his personal papers and unpublished works have been released. . . This volume adheres immaculately to the high standards set by previous production of the Mark Twain Project and carries on the tradition of intelligent and compelling footnotes."—David Barrow, Nineteenth-Century Prose
"handsome, meticulously edited and annotated"—A. Robert Lee, Modern Language Review
"The editors of this series have enriched the literary history of the United States with the publishing of these letters. We look forward to the next volume."—Barbara W. Rippey, Western American Literature
"We don't read letters much anymore, to say nothing of writing them, and that's a loss. How much of a loss is readily apparent at every turn in this handsome and meticulously edited volume. . . . The book is great fun, and it gives us as intimate a glimpse of Mark Twain as we are likely to have."—Charles H. Gold, Chicago Sun-Times
"distinguished by meticulous editorial standards and exacting scholarship. The letters of few other authors have been handled with such exhaustive and intelligent care. . . When completed, Mark Twain's Letters will constitute a comprehensive autobiography of a major American author."—M. T. Inge, Choice
"scrupulously annotated, richly illustrated, definitive"—Charles C. Nash, Library Journal
"a splendidly conceived and brilliantly achieved edition of Clemens's letters"—Nineteenth-Century Literature
"Few things, as Pudd'nhead observed, are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example, and this building collection of the letters is horribly, excruciatingly good. It sets standards of diligence that will cause future editors of writers' letters to weep."—Jonathan Raban, Times Literary Supplement
"In all, Mark Twain's Letters is scholarship at its best—charming and readable texts, informative and accessible commentary, all at a reasonable price."—Gary Scharnhorst, California History
"the first two volumes of Mark Twain's Letters that have now been published by the University of California Press . . . are models of scrupulous scholarship, containing everything the reader could conceivably want to know."—Geoffrey C. Ward, American Heritage
"a magisterial accomplishment"—Robert E. Gunderson, The Californians
"In the tradition established by volume I, the letters are meticulously annotated, providing a virtual documentary biography of Mark Twain for this period. This has the makings of a magnificent edition."—Robert Sattelmeyer, American Literary Scholarship
"anyone who studies the life and career of Sam Clemens will be grateful for the effort the Mark Twain Project demonstrates in this volumeæand in all its work. . . . Altogether the editorial effort is truly astonishing."—James E. Caron, Biography
"the attempt to present Twain's correspondence chronologically and in its entirety is a completely new undertaking that should be expected to have its own impact on Twain studies. It may at least be conjectured, for instance, that the obsession of many scholars with Twain's 'fragmented' personality may in part be an effect of the piecemeal fashion in which his personal papers and unpublished works have been released. . . This volume adheres immaculately to the high standards set by previous production of the Mark Twain Project and carries on the tradition of intelligent and compelling footnotes."—David Barrow, Nineteenth-Century Prose
"handsome, meticulously edited and annotated"—A. Robert Lee, Modern Language Review
"The editors of this series have enriched the literary history of the United States with the publishing of these letters. We look forward to the next volume."—Barbara W. Rippey, Western American Literature
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.
"I saw Lily Hitchcock in Paris & she was chief among the ten thousand American roses there & altogether lovely. I did so yearn to kiss her for her mother but it was just my luck—her mother was there herself."
—To Frank Fuller, August 1867
"Train stops every fifteen minutes and stays three quarters of an hour, figure out when it will arrive and meet me."
—To Charles J. Langdon, August 1868
"'A good wife would be a perpetual incentive to progress'—& so she would—I never thought of that before—progress from house to house because I couldn't pay the rent. The idea is good. . . . I want a good wife—I want a couple of them if they are particularly good—but where is the wherewithal?"
—To Mary Mason Fairbanks, December 1867
"If you think such a book would suit your purpose, please drop me a line, specifying the size & general style of the volume; when the matter ought to be ready; whether it should have pictures in it or not; & particularly what your terms with me would be, & what amount of money I might possibly make out of it. That latter clause has a degree of importance for me which is almost beyond my own comprehension."
—To Elisha Bliss, Jr., December 1867
"It is MY thanksgiving day, above all other days that ever shone on earth. Because, after twenty-four hours of persecution from me, Mr. & Mrs. L. have yielded a conditional consent—Livy has said, over & over again, the word which is so hard for a maiden to say, & if there were a church near here with a steeple high enough to make it an object I should go & jump over it. . . . I touch no more spirituous liquors after this day (though I have made no promises)—I shall do no act which you or Livy might be pained to hear of—I shall seek the society of the good--I shall be a Christian."
—To Mary Mason Fairbanks, November 1868
"This pleasure party of ours is composed of the d----dest, rustiest, ignorant, vulgar, slimy, psalm-singing cattle that could be scraped up in seventeen States. They wanted Holy Land, and they got it. It was a stunner."
—To Joseph Goodman, October 1867
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.
—To Frank Fuller, August 1867
"Train stops every fifteen minutes and stays three quarters of an hour, figure out when it will arrive and meet me."
—To Charles J. Langdon, August 1868
"'A good wife would be a perpetual incentive to progress'—& so she would—I never thought of that before—progress from house to house because I couldn't pay the rent. The idea is good. . . . I want a good wife—I want a couple of them if they are particularly good—but where is the wherewithal?"
—To Mary Mason Fairbanks, December 1867
"If you think such a book would suit your purpose, please drop me a line, specifying the size & general style of the volume; when the matter ought to be ready; whether it should have pictures in it or not; & particularly what your terms with me would be, & what amount of money I might possibly make out of it. That latter clause has a degree of importance for me which is almost beyond my own comprehension."
—To Elisha Bliss, Jr., December 1867
"It is MY thanksgiving day, above all other days that ever shone on earth. Because, after twenty-four hours of persecution from me, Mr. & Mrs. L. have yielded a conditional consent—Livy has said, over & over again, the word which is so hard for a maiden to say, & if there were a church near here with a steeple high enough to make it an object I should go & jump over it. . . . I touch no more spirituous liquors after this day (though I have made no promises)—I shall do no act which you or Livy might be pained to hear of—I shall seek the society of the good--I shall be a Christian."
—To Mary Mason Fairbanks, November 1868
"This pleasure party of ours is composed of the d----dest, rustiest, ignorant, vulgar, slimy, psalm-singing cattle that could be scraped up in seventeen States. They wanted Holy Land, and they got it. It was a stunner."
—To Joseph Goodman, October 1867
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.
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