Twain at Sea: The Maritime Writings of Samuel Langhorne Clemens

by Mark Twain, Eric Paul Roorda (Editor)

Overview

Samuel Clemens (1835–1910) repeatedly traversed the ocean during his globetrotting life. A keen observer, the man who recast himself as Mark Twain was fascinated by seafaring. This book compiles selections ranging from his first voyage in 1866—San Francisco to Hawaii—to his circumnavigation of the world by steamship 1897. Despite his background as a “brown water” mariner, Twain was out of his element on the ocean. His writings about being at sea (as well as feeling at sea) reflect both a growing familiarity with voyaging and an enduring sense of amazement. Twain’s shipboard observations capture his interest and amusement in the “blue water” mariners he encountered, with their salty subculture and individual quirks. Twain at Sea collects the author’s essays and travelogues on the maritime world in one volume, including excerpts from Roughing It, The Innocents Abroad, A Tramp Abroad, Following the Equator, and other sources.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781512602722
Publisher:	University Press of New England
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Series:	Seafaring America Series
Edition description:	1
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

MARK TWAIN was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in the village of Florida, Missouri, in 1835. He worked four years on a Mississippi steamboat, frequently traveled overseas, and wrote about all of his voyages. In between these pursuits, he invented the American novel with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He died in Redding, Connecticut, in 1910. ERIC PAUL ROORDA is professor of history at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, and co-director of The Munson Institute, a graduate maritime studies program at Mystic Seaport, Connecticut. He is the author of The Dictator Next Door, which won two national book awards, and Cuba, America, and the Sea. He is the co-editor of The Dominican Republic Reader: History, Politics, Culture and the editor of The Ocean Reader: History, Politics, Culture.

Date of Birth:

November 30, 1835

Date of Death:

April 21, 1910

Place of Birth:

Florida, Missouri

Place of Death:

Redding, Connecticut

Table of Contents

Series Editor’s Preface • A Note on the Text • Acknowledgments • Map of Twain’s Voyages • Introduction: The Salty Samuel C. • LIFE ON BROWN WATER • “The Boys’ Ambition”: From Life on the Mississippi, Chapter 4 • “I Want to Be a Cub-Pilot”: From Life on the Mississippi, Chapter 5 • “Sounding”: From Life on the Mississippi, Chapter 12 • “A Catastrophe”: From Life on the Mississippi, Chapter 20 • HAWAIIAN PASSAGES • “The Old Admiral”: From Roughing It, Chapter 62 • From Mark Twain’s Notebook • From Roughing It, Chapter 69 • From Roughing It, Chapter 73 • PACIFIC PERILS: THE WRECK OF THE CLIPPER SHIP HORNET • “Forty-Three Days in an Open Boat: Compiled from Personal Diaries”: From Harper’s New Monthly Magazine • FROM HAWAII TO NEW YORK • From Roughing It, Chapter 78 • From Mark Twain’s Notebook • From the Alta California Letters • THE INNOCENTS AFLOAT • The Voyage Out: From The Innocents Abroad, Chapters 2–5, 7 • The Mediterranean: From The Innocents Abroad, Chapters 10, 32, 57, 59 • Returning, Remembering: From The Innocents Abroad, Chapter 60 and Conclusion • BACK TO CALIFORNIA, AND BACK • “The Proper Time to Sail”: From the Alta California Letters • “The Aged Pilot Man”: From Roughing It, Chapter 51 • VOYAGES TO EUROPE ON PASSENGER LINERS • Letter from RMS Scotia • From Mark Twain’s Journals • Letter from SS Batavia • Letters to Captain Mouland • Letter to the New York Tribune • Letter from SS Batavia • Letters from the City of Chester • ESCAPES AND EXCURSIONS • “The Young Pirates”: From The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Chapter 8 • “The Duke of Bilgewater and the Dauphin King Looey”: From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 20 • From “Some Rambling Notes of an Idle Excursion” • “I Spare an Awful Bore”: From A Tramp Abroad, Chapter 27 • From Mark Twain’s Notebook • ABOUT ALL KINDS OF SHIPS • From Mark Twain’s Notebook • “About All Kinds of Ships”: From The Million-Pound Bank Note • From Mark Twain’s Notebook • From The American Claimant, Chapter 17 • EQUATORIAL CIRCUMNAVIGATION • To Australia: From Following the Equator, Chapters 1–5, 7–9 • “To New Zealand: From Following the Equator, Chapters 31, 34, 36 • The Indian Ocean: From Following the Equator, Chapters 37, 38, 62 • Completing the Circle: From Following the Equator, Chapter 64 and Conclusion • MARK TWAIN’S ICONIC SEA CAPTAIN • From the Alta California Letters • From Roughing It, Chapter 50, and the Autobiography of Mark Twain • From “Some Rambling Notes of an Idle Excursion” • From Roughing It, Chapter 77 • From The American Claimant, Chapter 16 • From “The Refuge of the Derelicts” • From Extract from Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven • From the Autobiography of Mark Twain • LAST VOYAGES OF A HALF-CENTURY AT SEA • From Mark Twain’s Notebook • From the Autobiography of Mark Twain • AFTERWORD: THE DARK WILDERNESS OF THE SEA—AND OF LIFE • From “The Enchanted Sea-Wilderness” • From “An Adventure in Remote Seas” • From “The Great Dark” • Appendix A: Mark Twain’s Maritime Maxims and Metaphors • Appendix B: Mark Twain’s Ships • Notes • Bibliography

What People are Saying About This

R. Kent Rasmussen

“Mark Twain is ever full of surprises, one of which is the great amount of time he spent at sea. Readers not already familiar with his extensive travel history will discover in this book that in addition to his years on Mississippi steamboats, Mark Twain undertook scores of sea voyages. His lively accounts of both those and imaginary voyages are collected in this handy volume, which should find a welcome place alongside books about his steamboating days.”

Shelley Fisher Fishkin

“Twain at Sea brings together Twain’s comments about sea travel—ships, journeys, and fellow passengers he encountered over half a century. He is characteristically observant, droll, engaged, and interested in everything going on around him. A lovely volume to take on an ocean voyage or dip into on a day at the beach.”

Jerome Loving

“[Roorda’s] approach and arrangement are original… Mark Twain was always traveling, and Roorda follows yet another trail of America’s best-known writer.”

Editorial Reviews

Roorda balances these colorful tales with real insights and compassion for the financial woes and family tragedies that kept Twain writing and traveling right up until the last few months before his death in 1910. Taken as a whole, this volume masterfully takes the man Samuel Clemens and the icon Mark Twain from the familiar Mississippi River and sends his legacy out to sea, where it so clearly belongs.”

Sea History

“Roorda's assessment of Twain's relationship with the sea reflects both his familiarity with Twain's writings and his own maritime expertise, which transforms what otherwise could have been just one more anthology of Twain's writings into a valuable contribution to Twain studies.”


—Mark Twain Forum

From the Publisher