Author Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Missouri in 1835 and died in 1910. His pen name, Mark Twain, is a pilot’s expression for “two fathoms here,” or 12 feet, enough for a riverboat to pass safely. Twain’s chosen pseudonym emphasizes his deep affection for the American South and his celebration of working-class Americans. By the time he was 35 in 1870, Twain had been a riverboat pilot, soldier, miner, travel writer, editor, author, and public speaker. Twain’s story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” made him famous. His novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) are widely regarded as essential entries in American literature. Twain’s literary use of vernacular speech helped advance a uniquely American style of writing; his humor and wit were popular features of his writing and lecturing.

Twain and his wife and editor, Olivia Langdon, lived lavishly on his earnings and her inheritance, mainly in New York and Europe, twice filing for bankruptcy. Twain’s life was marked by tragedy, including the death of three of his four children, and his later works reflected a darker consideration of human nature.