The Mark Twain Encyclopedia (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities) [Hardcover]

J.R. LeMaster (Editor), James D. Wilson (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Garland Reference Library of the Humanities | Publication Date: February 1, 1993

"A model reference work that can be used with profit and delight by general readers as well as by more advanced students of Twain. Highly recommended." - Library Journal

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Mark Twain includes more than 700 alphabetically arranged entries that cover a full variety of topics on this major American writer's life, intellectual milieu, literary career, and achievements. Because so much of Twain's travel narratives, essays, letters, sketches, autobiography, journalism and fiction reflect his personal experience, particular attention is given to the delicate relationship between art and life, between artistic interpretations and their factual source.

This comprehensive resource includes information on:

• Twain’s life and times: the author's childhood in Missouri and apprenticeship as a riverboat pilot, early career as a journalist in the West, world travels, friendships with well-known figures, reading and education, family life and career

• Complete Works: including novels, travel narratives, short stories, sketches, burlesques, and essays

• Significant characters, places, and landmarks

• Recurring concerns, themes or concepts: such as humor, language; race, war, religion, politics, imperialism, art and science

• Twain’s sources and influences.

Useful for students, researchers, librarians and teachers, this volume features a chronology, a special appendix section tracking the poet's genealogy, and a thorough index. Each entry also includes a bibliography for further study.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The authors give us a valuable resource for the study of the life and works of Mark Twain. Entries examine the cultural and political context of Twain's life, the settings and characters in his short fiction and novels, and the places and people that influenced his writing. LeMaster and Wilson have done readers a great service by organizing an encyclopedia with an easy-to-use critical apparatus, a detailed index, clear cross references, useful bibliographies, and well-balanced, jargon-free articles. A genealogical appendix and a chronology of Twain's life are also included. In short, this is a model reference work that can be used with profit and delight by general readers as well as by more advanced students of Twain. Highly recommended.
- Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Westerville P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Probably only a small percentage of those readers who savored the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are even aware of the darker side of Mark Twain as revealed in his later writings, such as The Mysterious Stranger. A complex man,whose public persona as Mark Twain and private life as Samuel Langhorne Clemens are inextricably intertwined, he has long been recognized as a major figure in the annals of American literature. The contradictory elements in his life and works and his multifaceted career as a riverboat pilot, journalist, humorist, travel writer, novelist, short story writer, satirist, essayist, and lecturer are ably documented in this excellent encyclopedia.

The approximately 740 alphabetically arranged entries cover an impressive array of topics relating to Twain's life and times. Most of Twain's novels, short stories, and other writings are treated in separate articles, as are major characters and fictional locales. In addition, family members, friends and associates, and homes and haunts are accorded entries. Still other articles (e.g., Imagery, Language, Humor, Point of View) explore aspects of Twain's literary style, while a number of essays discuss his ideas regarding intellectual concepts and his views on social, political, and moral issues (e.g., Conscience, Determinism, Evolution, Racial Attitudes, Religion). Moreover, articles on biographers and trends in scholarship provide valuable overviews of the secondary literature on Twain, and entries that identify bibliographies, journals, and manuscript collections will be of interest to librarians as well as Twain researchers. Contributed by such noted Twain specialists as Louis Budd, Shelley Fishkin, and Hamlin Hall, the well-written articles range in length from a paragraph to several pages. Each entry includes a helpful selective bibliography, and most are followed by see also references to other relevant articles. A useful chronology of Twain's life and a chronological bibliography of his posthumous publications through 1990 preface the encyclopedic portion of the work, while a Clemens family genealogy appears as an appendix. A well-organized and commendably detailed index provides ready access to the entire work.

Complementing rather than supplanting Robert L. Gale's Plots and Characters in the Works of Mark Twain (Archon Books, 1973) and James D. Wilson's Reader's Guide to the Short Stories of Mark Twain (G.K. Hall, 1987), this carefully conceived, meticulously edited, and admirably executed compendium could serve as a model for encyclopedias on individual authors. It not only synthesizes and illuminates previous scholarship on Twain, but also adds to that body of knowledge. An excellent guide to Twain's life and works for students, scholars, and devotees, it is highly recommended for high school, public, and academic libraries.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 888 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (February 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082407212X
• ISBN-13: 978-0824072124
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,671,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)