Mark Twain Published "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" - February 18, 1885

This week (February 13-19) in literary history – Cotton Mather died (February 13, 1728); Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest premiered in London (February 14, 1895); Charles Dickens is celebrated in New York City at the Boz Ball (February 14, 1842); Fyodor Dostoyevsky married Anna Snitkina (February 15, 1867); Novelist Richard Ford was born (February 16, 1944); J.D. Salinger married Claire Douglas (February 17, 1955); Moliere died (February 17, 1673); Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published (February 18, 1885); Novelist Toni Morrison was born (February 18, 1931); William Faulkner completed Light in August (February 19, 1932);  Nobel prize winning author Andre Gide died (February 19, 1951)

Highlighted story of the week -

On February 18, 1885, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published. Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) first introduced Huck Finn as the best friend of Tom Sawyer, hero of his tremendously successful novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Though Twain saw Huck's story as a kind of sequel to his earlier book, the new novel was far more serious, focusing on the institution of slavery and other aspects of life in the antebellum South.

At the book's heart is the journey of Huck and his friend Jim, a runaway slave, down the Mississippi River on a raft. Jim runs away because he is about to be sold and separated from his wife and children, and Huck goes with him to help him get to Ohio and freedom. Huck narrates the story in his distinctive voice, offering colorful descriptions of the people and places they encounter along the way. The most striking part of the book is its satirical look at racism, religion and other social attitudes of the time. While Jim is strong, brave, generous and wise, many of the white characters are portrayed as violent, stupid or simply selfish, and the naive Huck ends up questioning the hypocritical, unjust nature of society in general. Aside from its controversial nature and its continuing popularity with young readers, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been hailed by many serious literary critics as a masterpiece. No less a judge than Ernest Hemingway famously declared that the book marked the beginning of American literature: "There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since."

Check back every Friday for a new installment of “This Week in Literary History.”

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of six nonfiction books that includes the award winning Literary Legends of the British Isles and the recently published America’s Literary Legends. Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com for more information. His books can be purchased from Amazon through the following links:

 

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Mark Twain was Born - November 30, 1835

This week (November 2-December 4) in English literary history – William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway (November 28, 1582); Poet William Blake was born (November 28, 1757); Washington Irving died (November 28, 1859); Louisa May Alcott was born (November 29, 1832); C.S. Lewis was born (November 29, 1898); Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain was born (November 30, 1835); Jonathan Swift was born (November 30, 1667); Oscar Wilde died (November 30, 1900); Charles Dickens gave first U.S. reading (December 2, 1867); Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days (December 3, 1926); Tennessee Williams’ Street Car names Desire premiered (December 3, 1947); Robert Louis Stevenson died (December 3, 1894); Bram Stoker married Florence Balcombe (December 4, 1878). 

Highlighted story of the week –  

Samuel Clemens, later known as Mark Twin, was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. Clemens was apprenticed to a printer at age 13 and later worked for his older brother, who established the Hannibal Journal. In 1857, the Keokuk Daily Post commissioned him to write a series travel essays, but after writing five he decided to become a steamboat captain instead. He signed on as a pilot's apprentice in 1857 and received his pilot's license in 1859, when he was 23. 

Clemens piloted boats for two years, until the Civil War halted steamboat traffic. During his time as a pilot, he picked up the term "Mark Twain," a boatman's call noting that the river was only two fathoms deep, the minimum depth for safe navigation. When Clemens returned to writing in 1861, working for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, he wrote a humorous travel letter signed by "Mark Twain" and continued to use the pseudonym for the next 50 years. In 1864, he moved to San Francisco to work as a reporter. There, he wrote the short story that made him famous, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” 

In 1866, Twain traveled to Hawaii as a correspondent for the Sacramento Union. Next, he traveled the world writing accounts for papers in California and New York. These travels were later chronicled in The Innocents Abroad (1869). In 1870, Clemens married the daughter of a wealthy New York coal merchant and settled in Hartford, Connecticut, where he continued to write travel accounts and lecture. In 1875, his novel Tom Sawyer was published, followed by Life on the Mississippi (1883) and his masterpiece Huckleberry Finn (1885). Bad investments left Clemens bankrupt after the publication of Huckleberry Finn, but he won back his financial standing with his next three books. In 1903, he and his family moved to Italy, where his wife died. Her death left him depressed and bitter, and his work, while still humorous, grew distinctly darker. He died on April 21, 1910 from a heart attack at his home in Redding, Connecticut and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York. 

Check back every Friday for a new installment of “This Week in English Literary History.”

 

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of six nonfiction books that include the gold medal winning Literary Legends of the British Isles and the soon to be released America’s Literary Legends. Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com for more information. His books can be purchased from Schiffer Publishing, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s Books, Amazon, and other fine book sellers.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Literary-Legends-British-Isles-Writers/dp/0764344382/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417196854&sr=8-1&keywords=michael+thomas+barry

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