The American Claimant (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)
By Mark Twain
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Published in 1892, this prince-and-the-pauper tale concerns the heir to a British earldom who spurns his title and wealth to live the life of the common man in America, and the American claimant to the earldom, a flighty inventor with a lovely if scatterbrained daughter who looks for nobility in all the wrong places.
Mark Twain
Who Was Mark Twain? Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens (1835 -1910), was the celebrated author of several novels, including two major classics of American literature: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He was also a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur and inventor. Early Life Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in the tiny village of Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835, the sixth child of John and Jane Clemens. When he was 4 years old, his family moved to nearby Hannibal, a bustling river town of 1,000 people. John Clemens worked as a storekeeper, lawyer, judge and land speculator, dreaming of wealth but never achieving it, sometimes finding it hard to feed his family. He was an unsmiling fellow; according to one legend, young Sam never saw his father laugh. His mother, by contrast, was a fun-loving, tenderhearted homemaker who whiled away many a winter's night for her family by telling stories. She became head of the household in 1847 when John died unexpectedly. The Clemens family "now became almost destitute," wrote biographer Everett Emerson, and was forced into years of economic struggle - a fact that would shape the career of Twain. Twain in Hannibal Twain stayed in Hannibal until age 17. The town, situated on the Mississippi River, was in many ways a splendid place to grow up. Steamboats arrived there three times a day, tooting their whistles; circuses, minstrel shows and revivalists paid visits; a decent library was available; and tradesmen such as blacksmiths and tanners practiced their entertaining crafts for all to see. However, violence was commonplace, and young Twain witnessed much death: When he was nine years old, he saw a local man murder a cattle rancher, and at 10 he watched an enslaved person die after a white overseer struck him with a piece of iron. Hannibal inspired several of Twain's fictional locales, including "St. Petersburg" in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. These imaginary river towns are complex places: sunlit and exuberant on the one hand, but also vipers' nests of cruelty, poverty, drunkenness, loneliness and soul-crushing boredom - all parts of Twain's boyhood experience. Sam kept up his schooling until he was about 12 years old, when - with his father dead and the family needing a source of income - he found employment as an apprentice printer at the Hannibal Courier, which paid him with a meager ration of food. In 1851, at 15, he got a job as a printer and occasional writer and editor at the Hannibal Western Union, a little newspaper owned by his brother, Orion. Steamboat Pilot Then, in 1857, 21-year-old Twain fulfilled a dream: He began learning the art of piloting a steamboat on the Mississippi. A licensed steamboat pilot by 1859, he soon found regular employment plying the shoals and channels of the great river. Twain loved his career - it was exciting, well-paying and high-status, roughly akin to flying a jetliner today. However, his service was cut short in 1861 by the outbreak of the Civil War, which halted most civilian traffic on the river. As the Civil War began, the people of Missouri angrily split between support for the Union and the Confederate States. Twain opted for the latter, joining the Confederate Army in June 1861 but serving for only a couple of weeks until his volunteer unit disbanded. Where, he wondered then, would he find his future? What venue would bring him both excitement and cash? His answer: the great American West.
Related to The American Claimant (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)
Related ebooks
The American Claimant (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Tell a Story (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChristian Science (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gilded Age (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTom Sawyer Abroad; Tom Sawyer, Detective (Barnes & Noble Digital Library): and Other Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sketches New and Old (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Innocents Abroad (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPersonal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdventures of Huckleberry Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mark Twain's Letters - Volume 1 (1835-1866) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMark Twain Deluxe Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMark Twain's Letters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerican Legends: The Life of Mark Twain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEurope and Elsewhere Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStudy Guide to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStudy Guide to The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for Mark Twain's "The Autobiography of Mark Twain" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTaming the Bicycle (Barnes & Noble Digital Library): And Other Essays, Stories, and Sketches Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1835-1866) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStudy Guide to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and Other Works by Mark Twain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLighting Out for the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Headed West and Became Mark Twain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5At the Dangerous Edge of Social Justice: Race, Violence and Death in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Prince and the Pauper (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTaming the Bicycle (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMark Twain Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In Plain and Simple English (Annotated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPudd'nhead Wilson Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The New Made Grave Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Classics For You
Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wuthering Heights (with an Introduction by Mary Augusta Ward) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey: (The Stephen Mitchell Translation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Master & Margarita Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Confederacy of Dunces Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5East of Eden (Original Classic Edition) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quiet American Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Man and the Sea: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animal Farm: A Fairy Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mythos Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iliad: The Fitzgerald Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sense and Sensibility (Centaur Classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn French! Apprends l'Anglais! THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY: In French and English Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jungle: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Little Women (Seasons Edition -- Winter) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Count of Monte-Cristo English and French Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Farewell to Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As I Lay Dying Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Count of Monte Cristo (abridged) (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Titus Groan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ulysses: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Have Always Lived in the Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The American Claimant (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)
0 ratings0 reviews