Autobiography of Mark Twain: The Complete and Authoritative Edition, Volume 1

by Mark Twain

  462.36–37 no one . . . except Dr. Seaman and myself uttered a public protest] Surgeon Louis L. Seaman (1851–1932), a highly decorated army major and expert on military sanitation who had spent six months in Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War, proclaimed on 30 August 1905 that the peace mediated by Roosevelt would “prove detrimental to the Japanese and to the rest of the world,” that “in fifteen years Russia will have recuperated sufficiently for another struggle,” and that the war should have been allowed to continue “until the Russians had been driven away entirely from the Pacific Coast” (“Thinks Peace a Mistake,” New York Times, 31 Aug 1905, 3). Clemens’s own “public protest” came in a letter of 29 August 1905 to the editor of the Boston Globe:

  Russia was on the high road to emancipation from an insane and intolerable slavery. I was hoping there would be no peace until Russian liberty was safe. I think that this was a holy war in the best and noblest sense of that abused term, and that no war was ever charged with a higher mission; I think there can be no doubt that that mission is now defeated and Russia’s chains re-riveted, this time to stay.

  I think the czar will now withdraw the small humanities that have been forced from him, and resume his medieval barbarisms with a relieved spirit and an immeasurable joy. I think Russian liberty has had its last chance, and has lost it.

  I think nothing has been gained by the peace that is remotely comparable to what has been sacrificed by it. One more battle would have abolished the waiting chains of billions upon billions of unborn Russians, and I wish it could have been fought.

  I hope I am mistaken, yet in all sincerity I believe that this peace is entitled to rank as the most conspicuous disaster in political history. (SLC 1905d)

  463.2 Roosevelt had given the Russian revolution its death-blow] Clemens’s conviction that Roosevelt’s peacemaking had enabled the Tsarist government to concentrate on suppressing domestic political reform was widely shared. Government violence against the populace in fact had been extreme in 1905 following the peace (see AD, 10 Jan 1906, note at 257.18–21), and again during the first three months of 1906 (New York Times: “Russians Are Skeptical,” 13 June 1905, 2; “Gorky Not Coming Here,” 6 July 1905, 2; “John Bigelow Condemns Peace of Portsmouth,” 3 Dec 1905, SM4; “Roosevelt and Russia,” 13 Feb 1906, 6, and numerous articles, 1 Jan–30 Mar 1906).

  463.4 I came across Dr. Seaman last night] Probably at the meeting of the New York State Association for Promoting the Interests of the Blind (see the note at 464.17–19).

  463.9–10 only two or three months ago . . . You raised two millions of dollars in a breath] In early December 1905 it was reported that in only eighteen days, American Jews had raised $1 million for the relief of Jews being massacred in Russia, with contributions from Germany and Great Britain bringing the total to $2.475 million. Clemens assisted in the fundraising by speaking at an 18 December benefit matinee at the Casino Theatre at which several prominent actors, including Sarah Bernhardt, performed:

  Mark Twain, who followed Mme. Bernhardt, spoke of the wonderful French language, which he always felt as if he were “just going to understand.”

  “Mme. Bernhardt is so marvelously young,” he added. “She and I are two of the youngest people alive.”

  Then the humorist told a story of how when Mme. Bernhardt was playing in Hartford some years ago three charitable old ladies decided to deny themselves the pleasure of seeing the great actress and to send the money instead to some needy friends.

  “And the needy friends,” concluded Mr. Clemens drily, “gratefully took the money and bought Bernhardt tickets with it.” (“Mark Twain Speaks After Bernhardt Acts,” New York Times, 19 Dec 1905, 9)

  By late December, the total raised in America and Europe, from Jews and Gentiles, exceeded $3 million (New York Times: “Fund Exceeds $1,000,000, Still More to Come,” 3 Dec 1905, 8; “Asks $1,000,000 More for Jewish Relief,” 5 Dec 1905, 6; “$935,000 Already Sent to Aid Russian Jews,” 7 Dec 1905, 6; “Amusements,” 18 Dec 1905, 14; “Relief Fund over $3,000,000,” 29 Dec 1905, 2).

  463.23 ARMS TO FREE RUSSIA, TCHAYKOFFSKY’S APPEAL] Clemens had a clipping of this article, from the New York Times of 30 March 1906, pasted into the typescript of his dictation.

  464.17–19 Chairman at the first meeting of the Association . . . in the interest of the adult blind. Joseph H. Choate and I had a very good time there] Clemens presided at the meeting of the New York State Association for Promoting the Interest of the Blind, held in the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on 29 March 1906. As an instance of a time when he was himself momentarily blind, Clemens told about his hunt for a lost sock in a darkened German inn, which he had originally described in 1880 in chapter 13 of A Tramp Abroad (for a text of the speech, see Fatout 1976, 506–11). Choate, a leader in humanitarian causes, made a humorous appeal for contributions to the association (“Twain and Choate Talk at Meeting for Blind,” New York Times, 30 Mar 1906, 9; for Choate see AD, 23 Jan 1906, note at 303.2–10).

  464.34–35 Blackwell’s Island] An island in the East River, named for Robert Blackwell (d. 1717?), its onetime owner, which housed a penitentiary for men and women, a workhouse for the drunken and disorderly, an almshouse and hospitals for some of New York City’s poor, and America’s first municipal insane asylum. Its name was changed to Welfare Island in 1921, then to Roosevelt Island, in honor of Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1973. Soon after that it became largely residential (Moses King 1893, 496–500; NYC10044 2009; Roosevelt Island Historical Society 2009).

  465.6–7 She was to be at Laurence Hutton’s house . . . Henry Rogers and I went together] In 1929 Keller devoted a chapter of Midstream: My Later Life to her long friendship with Mark Twain, recalling its beginning at Hutton’s home on a Sunday in 1894, when she was fourteen and Clemens “was vigorous, before the shadows began to gather”:

  During the afternoon several celebrities dropped in, and among them Mr. Clemens. The instant I clasped his hand in mine, I knew that he was my friend. He made me laugh and feel thoroughly happy by telling some good stories, which I read from his lips. I have forgotten a great deal more than I remember, but I shall never forget how tender he was.

  Keller also wrote fondly of Henry H. Rogers, whom she first met that same day and afterward saw frequently, and who financed her college education (Keller 1929, 47–48, 71, 288–89).

  465.9 Miss Sullivan] Annie Sullivan (1866–1936), herself only partially sighted, had become Keller’s teacher in 1887. Her groundbreaking technique for educating Keller was based on a system of touch teaching. The two remained lifelong companions, even after Sullivan’s 1905 marriage to writer and literary critic John Macy, and together worked for increased opportunities for the blind.

  466.7 Miss Holt] Winifred T. Holt (1870–1945), a sculptor, was the principal founder of the New York State Association for Promoting the Interests of the Blind. In early 1906 she was the organization’s treasurer pro tem and secretary, retaining the latter post until at least 1920. She later wrote numerous books and papers on blindness and worked extensively for the education and rehabilitation of the blind both in the United States and abroad (Holt to SLC, 24 Jan 1906, CU-MARK).

  466.26 Wrentham, Mass., March 27, 1906] Keller’s letter was transcribed into this dictation from her original typed and signed letter, now in the Mark Twain Papers. She later published it in Out of the Dark (Keller 1913, 208–12).

  APPENDIXES

  SAMUEL L. CLEMENS: A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY

  1835

  Born 30 November in Florida, Mo., the sixth child of John Marshall and Jane Lampton Clemens. Of his six siblings, only Orion, Pamela, and Henry lived into adulthood. (For details, see the next appendix, “Family Biographies.”)

  1839–40

  Moves to Hannibal, Mo., on the west bank of the Mississippi River; enters typical western common school in Hannibal (1840).

  1842–47

  Spends summers at his uncle John Quarles’s farm, near Florida, Mo.

  1847

 
On 24 March his father dies. Leaves school to work as an errand boy and apprentice typesetter for Henry La Cossitt’s Hannibal Gazette.

  1848

  Apprenticed to Joseph P. Ament, the new editor and owner of the Hannibal Missouri Courier. Works for and lives with Ament until the end of 1850.

  1851

  In January joins Orion’s newspaper, the Hannibal Western Union, where he soon prints “A Gallant Fireman,” his earliest known published work.

  1853–57

  After almost three years as Orion’s apprentice, leaves Hannibal in June 1853. Works as a journeyman typesetter in St. Louis, New York, Philadelphia, Muscatine (Iowa), Keokuk (Iowa), and Cincinnati.

  1857

  On 16 February departs Cincinnati on the Paul Jones, piloted by Horace E. Bixby, who agrees to train him as a Mississippi River pilot.

  1858

  Henry Clemens dies of injuries from the explosion of the Pennsylvania.

  1859

  On 9 April officially licensed to pilot steamboats “to and from St. Louis and New Orleans.” By 1861 has served as “a good average” pilot on at least a dozen boats.

  1861

  Becomes a Freemason (resigns from his lodge in 1869). Works as a commercial pilot until the outbreak of the Civil War. Joins the Hannibal Home Guard, a small band of volunteers with Confederate sympathies. Resigns after two weeks and accompanies Orion to Nevada Territory, where Orion will serve until 1864 as the territorial secretary. Works briefly for Orion, then prospects for silver.

  1862

  Prospects in the Humboldt and Esmeralda mining districts. Sends contributions signed “Josh” (now lost) to the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, and in October becomes its local reporter.

  1863–64

  On 3 February 1863 first signs himself “Mark Twain.” While writing for the Enterprise he becomes Nevada correspondent for the San Francisco Morning Call. To escape prosecution for dueling, moves to San Francisco about 1 June 1864 and for four months works as local reporter for the Call. Writes for the Californian and the Golden Era. In early December visits Jackass Hill in Tuolumne County, Calif.

  1865

  Visits Angels Camp in Calaveras County, Calif. Returns to San Francisco and begins writing a daily letter for the Enterprise. Continues to write for the Californian. “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog” published in the New York Saturday Press on 18 November.

  1866

  Travels to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) as correspondent for the Sacramento Union, to which he writes twenty-five letters. In October gives his first lecture in San Francisco.

  1867

  His first book, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches, published in May. Gives first lecture in New York City. Sails on Quaker City to Europe and the Holy Land. Meets Olivia (Livy) Langdon in New York on 27 December. In Washington, D.C., serves briefly as private secretary to Senator William M. Stewart of Nevada.

  1868

  Lectures widely in eastern and midwestern states. Courts and proposes to Livy, winning her consent in November.

  1869

  The Innocents Abroad published. With Jervis Langdon’s help, buys one-third interest in the Buffalo Express.

  1870

  Marries Olivia on 2 February; they settle in Buffalo in a house purchased for them by Jervis Langdon. Son, Langdon, born prematurely on 7 November.

  1871

  Sells Express and the house and moves to Hartford, Conn. For the next two decades the family will live in Hartford and spend summers at Quarry Farm, in Elmira.

  1872

  Daughter Olivia Susan (Susy) Clemens born 19 March; son Langdon dies 2 June. Roughing It published in London (securing British copyright) and Hartford. Visits London to lecture in the fall.

  1873

  Takes family to England and Scotland for five months. Escorts them home (Livy is pregnant) and returns to England alone in November. The Gilded Age, written with Charles Dudley Warner, published in London and Hartford.

  1874

  Returns home in January; daughter Clara Langdon Clemens born 8 June. The family moves into the house they have built in Hartford.

  1875–76

  Mark Twain’s Sketches, New and Old (1875) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) published.

  1878–79

  Travels with family in Europe.

  1880

  A Tramp Abroad published. Daughter Jane (Jean) Lampton Clemens born 26 July.

  1881

  Begins to invest in Paige typesetting machine. The Prince and the Pauper published.

  1882

  Revisits the Mississippi to gather material for Life on the Mississippi, published 1883.

  1884–85

  Founds publishing house, Charles L. Webster and Co., named for his nephew by marriage, its chief officer. Reading tour with George Washington Cable (November–February). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn published in London (1884) and New York (1885). Publishes Ulysses S. Grant’s Memoirs (1885).

  1889

  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court published.

  1891–94

  Travels and lives in France, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy, with frequent business trips to the United States. Henry H. Rogers, vice-president of Standard Oil, undertakes to salvage Clemens’s fortunes. In 1894 Webster and Co. declares bankruptcy, and on Rogers’s advice Clemens abandons the Paige machine. The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson published serially and as a book in 1894.

  1895

  In August starts an around-the-world lecture tour to raise money, accompanied by Olivia and Clara; lectures en route to the Pacific Coast and then in Australia and New Zealand.

  1896

  Lectures in India, Ceylon, and South Africa. Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc published. On 18 August Susy dies from meningitis in Hartford. Jean is diagnosed with epilepsy. Resides in London.

  1897

  Following the Equator published in London and Hartford. Lives in Weggis (Switzerland) and Vienna.

  1898

  Pays his creditors in full. Lives in Vienna and nearby Kaltenleutgeben.

  1899–

  Resides in London, with stays at European spas. The family returns to the

  1901

  United States in October 1900, living at 14 West 10th Street, New York, then in Riverdale in the Bronx. Publishes “To the Person Sitting in Darkness” (February 1901).

  1902

  Makes last visit to Hannibal and St. Louis. Olivia’s health deteriorates severely. Isabel V. Lyon, hired as her secretary, is soon secretary to Clemens.

  1903

  Moves family to rented Villa di Quarto in Florence. Harper and Brothers acquires exclusive rights to all Mark Twain’s work.

  1904

  Begins dictating autobiography to Lyon; Jean types up her copy. Olivia dies of heart failure in Florence on 5 June. Family returns to the United States. Clemens leases a house at 21 Fifth Avenue, New York.

  1905

  Spends summer in Dublin, New Hampshire, with Jean. Writes “The War-Prayer.”

  1906

  Begins Autobiographical Dictations in January. Selections from them will appear in the North American Review, 1906–7. Commissions John Mead Howells to design a house to be built at Redding, Conn. What Is Man? printed anonymously for private distribution.

  1907

  Christian Science published. Hires Ralph W. Ashcroft as business assistant. Travels to England to receive honorary degree from Oxford University.

  1908

  Moves into the Redding house (“Innocence at Home,” then “Stormfield”).

  1909

  Dismisses Lyon and Ashcroft. Jean rejoins Clemens at Stormfield. Clara marries Ossip Gabrilowitsch, pianist and conductor, on 6 October. Jean dies of heart failure on 24 December.

  1910

  Suffers severe angina while in Bermuda; with Paine leaves for New York on 12 April. Dies at Stormfield on 21 April.

  For a much more detailed chronology, see
Mark Twain: Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, and Essays, 1852–1890 (Budd 1992a, 949–97).