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Full Description

This set of volumes is part of the "Critical Assessments of Writers in English" series, the aim of which is to provide complete collections of previously published, formative critical assessments covering the whole work of individual writers. They should be useful to serious readers of literature, researchers and advanced students. Many of the pieces included were originally published in journals or books which are now out of print or very difficult to obtain. Each set has an authoritative introductory survey, as well as a full bibliography and biographical details. This four-volume collection offers the student of Twain a wide range of critical writing on his life and work. The first volume contains three biographies by William Dean Howells, Albert Bigelow Paine and by his daughter, Clara Clemens. Volume two contains contemporary reviews and responses to Twain's work, arranged chronologically by title and concludes with a large section of assessments by approximately forty other creative writers. Volume three presents critical essays on all Twain's essential works, grouped chronologically by title. Prominence is given to major works such as "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Volume four offers a 20th-century overview of Twain, covering central themes such as: the frontier and the west; Mark Twain's humour; the South, slavery and race; Mark Twain and sexuality; and Mark Twain and language. It concludes with a number of general essays.

Contents

Volume I Three biographical responses: "My Mark Twain Reminiscences and Criticisms", William Dean Howells; "Mark Twain: A biography, The Personal and Literary Life of Samuel Langhorne Clemens", Albert Bigelow Paine; "My Father, Mark Twain", Clara Clemens. Volume II Contemporary reviews - creative writers' responses: "The Innocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrim's Progress" (1869); "Roughing It" (1872); "The Gilded Age" (1873); "Sketches, New and Old" (1875); "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876); "A Tramp Abroad" (1880); "The Prince and the Pauper" (1881-2); "The Stolen White Elephant" (1882); "Life on the Mississippi" (1883); "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884-5); "A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court" (1889); "The #1,000,000 Bank-note" (1893); "The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson" (1894); "Tom Sawyer Abroad" (1894); "Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc" (1896); "Tom Sawyer Detective, and Other Tales" (1896); "Following the Equator, or More Tramps Abroad" (1897); "The Man that Corrupted Hadeleyburg, and Other Stories" (1900); "A Double-barrelled Detective Story" (1902); "Extracts from Adam's Diary" (1904); "King Leopold's Soliloquy" (1905); "What is Man?" (1906); "Is Shakespeare Dead?" (1909); "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven" (1909); "Mark Twain's Autobiography" (1924); "The Florida Edition of Mark Twain" (1925); creative writers' responses. Volume III Critical essays: "The Celebrated Jumping From of Calaveras County" (1867); "The Innocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrim's Progress" (1869); "Roughing It" (1872); "The Gilded Age" (1873); "Old Times on the Missisippi" (1875, "Life on the Mississippi" (1883); "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876); "The Prince and the Pauper" (1881-2); "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884-5); "A Private History of a Campaign that Failed" (1885); "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (1889); "The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson" (1894); "Personal Reflections of Joan of Arc" (1896); "Following the Equator, More Tramps Abroad" (1897); "The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg" (1899); "What is Man?" (1906); "The Mysterious Stranger" (1916). Volume IV Twentieth-century overview: the first decade; the Brooks-De Voto controversy; the Frontier and the West; Mark Twain's humour; the South, slavery and race; Mark Twain and sexuality; Mark Twain and language; towards conclusions.