Acknowledgments
Contents
Abbreviations
Foreword to the Second Edition
Introduction to the Second Edition
I. Introduction to method and form – Clemens family ancestry
II. Early literary career – "Jumping Frog" – The Innocents Abroad – Playing "Bear" – Louis Stevenson – Mark Twain letter sold
III. Meets Olivia Langdon – Thirty-sixth wedding anniversary – Marriage and move to Buffalo – Susy's Death – Susy as a child
IV. Susy's biography – Reviewers and reviews – The Gilded Age – Mark Twain's dullness and temper – Cats – Language – Talk
V. Language and Temper – Susy on The Prince and the Pauper – The family editing of manuscripts – Mark Twain's early life in Hannibal – Cats – Church – Tom Nash and the Mississippi
VI. Susy's biography – Mark Twain's visit to U. S. Grant – John Hay – A Visit to Vassar College – Langdon's death – England trip
VII. Olivia's watchful eye – Mugwumps – An appeal to Ruth Cleveland – A meeting with Grover Cleveland in Albany – Memories of H. B. Stowe
VIII. Nevada experiences – An aborted duel
IX. The American monarchy – Influence of circumstances – The mesmerizer
X. Family history – Orion Clemens – Young Sam's apprenticeship
XI. Orion and the Hannibal Journal – Sam leaves Hannibal for New York – Return to Keokuk – Finding the $50 bill – Plan to visit the Amazon – A fortune from coca – Meeting Horace Bixby – Trip to Nevada
XII. Nevada experiences – Orion's political experiences – San Francisco – The Tennessee land – Orion in New York and Hartford – Orion's projects – Orion's autobiography – A conversation with John Hay
XIII. The Tennessee land – Sam's birth – The Quarles farm
XIV. Susy's biography – Dinner with Emperor Wilhelm II – A German "porter" – More experiences in Germany – Adventures of Rev. Joseph Harris
XV. Susy's biography – Cats – The privilege of age – Billiards
XVI. The truth in Twain's remarks – Jane Clemens' formula for divining truth – Monday Evening Club – Embroidery – Dream of Henry's death
XVII. Susy's biography – Soap bubbles and life – Bicycle riding – "Jim Wolf and the Cats"
XVIII. Susy's biography – Punishing children – A letter to the Christian Union – Thoughts of Susy – Mental telegraphy – Mind cure – More than a humorist
XIX. Susy's biography – George Washington Cable – Livy's editing – Idea of Providence – The children's record – Susy's bout with lying
XX. The Innocents Abroad – Plagiarizing the "Preface" to The Innocents Abroad – Bowing in San Francisco – Billiards – Playing "Quaker" in Elmira
XXI. Susy's biography – Difficulty recalling faces – Written out at 50 – Strangers and their "memories" of the past – The real Huckleberry Finn – Repenting in the night – Catalog of old acquaintances – Memory – Railway debate
XXII. Onteora and Mary Mapes Dodge – Dean Sage – European duelling – Captain Osborne and Bret Harte
XXIII. Schoolmates – Early loves – First telling of "Jim Wolf and the Cats" – Good boys and girls in fiction – "What is it all for?" – Measles – The Oxford degree ceremonies – A medieval fair
XXIV. Susy's biography – Onteora – Catalog of dead and living – Jim Wolf and the wasps – More of Susy's biography – James Redpath – Studying the race in himself – Billiards – Bowling
XXV. Whittier birthday speech – Days in Washington – Newspaper syndicate – Selling a dog to General Nelson Miles
Appendix A: "The Death of Jean"
Appendix B: Mark Twain's Experiments in Autobiography
Appendix C: The Editions and the Chronology of Composition
Appendix D: A Sample of Letters
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index