In addition to being a legendary author, Mark Twain was a great traveler, a globetrotter when traveling the world was not easy. he visited all five continents, sailed the atlantic 29 times and also crossed the pacific and indian oceans in a single circumnavigation of the world. he lectured in hundreds of towns and cities, and had something to say about many of them. him join us in celebrating his life, his wisdom, his literature, and his willingness to discover what was just around the corner.
hannibal, missouri: his family moved to hannibal when he was four years old. a port town on the mississippi, hannibal inspired the adventures of tom sawyer, published by twain in 1876 when he was fondly remembering his childhood. he returned many times to this great river during his career as a writer.
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new york city: left missouri at age 17 to become a journeyman typesetter in various cities on the east coast, including the rapidly expanding new york city.
Mississippi: In 1857, Clemens began a two-year apprenticeship to become a river pilot, where he became familiar with the phrase “mark twain” by measuring the depth of the river. it would become his pseudonym. Those trips to and from New Orleans, with stops in numerous towns along the way, were the inspiration for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, his greatest achievement.
Virginia City, Nevada – In 1862, he arrived as a miner, but struck gold by becoming a journalist at the local newspaper. His experiences in this part of the world inspired Roughing It (published 1872). He first used Mark Twain as his pseudonym while writing in Nevada.
san francisco – in 1864, he traveled to northern california, visiting calavaras county. The story of him Jim Smiley and his jumping frog (later called the celebrated jumping frog of Calavaras County) appeared in the New York Saturday press and became a huge hit.
hawaii – two sailed to the sandwich islands (former name for hawaii) in 1866 as a reporter for the san francisco alta california newspaper. He gave a lecture on his trip upon his return and realized that public speaking could become a profitable source of income.
the mediterranean – a newspaper financed his trip to europe and the middle east in 1867. twain traveled aboard a chartered ship, quaker city, and his experiences in france, italy and palestine were later compiled like the innocents abroad. Published in 1869, The Fools Abroad became one of the best travel books and an inspiration for countless journeys.
france – their trip to the mediterranean included a trip to the french capital for the paris exhibition of 1867. the two of them disliked france and the french and their hostility grew over the years. “I’m pretty sure (save one) I’m not racially prejudiced,” she would say later. his personal notebook was full of comments attacking French morality, politics, and culture.
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hartford, connecticut – twain moved his family to connecticut in 1872. in 1889, he published the novel, a connecticut yankee in king arthur’s court, but it was poorly received by literary critics. harriet beecher stowe was a resident of hartford.
modern library/shuffle house, new york
great britain: first visited the British Isles in 1872 and returned several times. His last visit was in 1907, when Oxford University awarded him an honorary degree. “When I am under the English flag, I am not a stranger,” he wrote. In addition to enjoying the art galleries of London, he was particularly in the British Library.
heidelberg, germany: two returned to europe in 1878 and toured europe for 16 months, visiting germany, switzerland, italy, france, belgium, holland, and britain. he spent several weeks in heidelberg, writing about his castle and fighting students in a wanderer abroad. he also lingered in munich and paris. A Tramp Abroad includes his famous essay, The Horrible German Language.
berlin, germany – clemens returned to europe in 1891 for financial and health reasons. he settled for several months in berlin, which he described as a “luminous intelligence center … a wonderful city”. He dined with Kaiser Wilhelm II, a fan of his writing.
the pacific – in 1895, at the age of 59, clemens began a world speaking tour to pay off his debts. He headed west through the United States and Canada before sailing from Victoria, British Columbia, to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, India, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Mauritius and South Africa and then heading to Great Britain. His three months in India became the focus of his book following the equator.
vienna, austria: in 1897, twain spoke at the concordia press club in vienna and delivered his famous speech die schrecken der deutschen sprache (the horrors of the german language).
bermuda – twain considered bermuda his second home and visited many times, including in the last few months before his death at age 74. he loved the tranquility of the island and lobbied against the use of cars by Bermudians.
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florence, italy – twain’s wife, olivia, died in 1904 while the couple was staying at the villa di quarto in florence.
redding, connecticut – twain died of a heart attack at the age of 74 at his home.
elmira, new york – he was buried in woodlawn cemetery in elmira, the same city where he was married.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – $20,000 First Edition, published by Charles Webster in 1884. Appears to have been owned by Al Spalding of Illinois, an American former professional baseball player and sporting goods manufacturer
the famous jumping frog of Calaveras County – $9,950a first edition of 1867. twain’s first book, which collected 27 stories
adventures of huckleberry finn – $8,500 another first edition
the adventures of tom sawyer: first edition of 1876 for 7150 usd, with 160 black and white illustrations
adventures of tom sawyer – $6,000another 1876 first edition
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