A Family Sketch and Other Private Writings

by Mark Twain, Livy Clemens, Susy Clemens, Benjamin Griffin (Editor)

Overview

This book publishes, for the first time in full, the two most revealing of Mark Twain’s private writings. Here he turns his mind to the daily life he shared with his wife Livy, their three daughters, a great many servants, and an imposing array of pets. These first-hand accounts display this gifted and loving family in the period of its flourishing.

Mark Twain began to write “A Family Sketch” in response to the early death of his eldest daughter, Susy, but the manuscript grew under his hands to become an exuberant account of the entire household. His record of the childrens’ sayings—“Small Foolishnesses”—is next, followed by the related manuscript “At the Farm.” Also included are selections from Livy’s 1885 diary and an authoritative edition of Susy’s biography of her father, written when she was a teenager. Newly edited from the original manuscripts, this anthology is a unique record of a fascinating family.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520280731
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	11/07/2014
Series:	Jumping Frogs: Undiscovered, Rediscovered, and Celebrated Writings of Mark Twain , #5
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Benjamin Griffin is an editor at the Mark Twain Project, which is housed within the Mark Twain Papers, the world’s largest archive of primary materials by this major American writer.

 

Date of Birth:

November 30, 1835

Date of Death:

April 21, 1910

Place of Birth:

Florida, Missouri

Place of Death:

Redding, Connecticut

Table of Contents

Introduction

A Family Sketch
by Mark Twain

A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It
by Mark Twain

A Record of the Small Foolishnesses of Susie and “Bay” Clemens (Infants)
by Mark Twain

At the Farm
by Mark Twain

Quarry Farm Diary
by Livy Clemens

Mark Twain
by Susy Clemens

About the Texts
About the Illustrations
Biographical Directory
Works Cited
Acknowledgments

Editorial Reviews

"A rare treat: a glimpse into the home life of one of America’s greatest authors...in his own words."

San Francisco Book Review - Glenn Dallas

"The book will delight those with only a popular acquaintance with Twain as well as Twain specialists, literary researchers, and historians."

Journal of American Culture

2014-10-07
A collection of writings by Twain, his wife and his eldest daughter that depict the day-to-day life of one of America's most beloved writers and his family.The six essays that comprise this volume form a unique biography of the Clemens clan during the time of its greatest thriving. The most complete piece, "A Family Sketch," begins the book. Twain wrote it after the death of his eldest daughter, Susy, in 1896 but never published it. The author introduces readers to his three daughters and several family servants, including a resourceful black butler named George and an Irish wet nurse who "whooped like a Pawnee…swore like a demon…and drank great quantities of strong liquors." The essay that follows, "A True Story," was published in fictionalized form in the Atlantic Monthly in 1874. Like "Sketch," it focuses on portraiture—in this case, of a long-suffering but ever cheerful black servant named Aunt Rachel. The two following pieces are more anecdotal in nature and offer a series of informal observations on the often silly and outrageous but sometimes remarkably wise words and actions of Twain's daughters. His wife, Livy, adds her voice to the mix in the fifth essay. Comprised of a series of journal entries she kept while the family summered at their Elmira, New York, home in 1884, the piece records the quotidian events of her family. Rounding out the collection is the essay, "Mark Twain" by Susy Clemens. Incomplete and deliberately unedited for spelling errors, Susy speaks with disarming honesty about her famous father and his flaws, which included a "peculiar gait" and teeth that were not "extraordinary." These essays are refreshing for their at times draftlike quality. At the same time, that they are so "private and unpolished" limits their appeal. Of interest to Twain scholars and die-hard fans but not to a general audience.

Kirkus Reviews