Mark Twain Part II

Mark and his wife had a son, and 3 daughters.  His son died in childhood and 2 of his daughters died as young woman.  Olivia Susan (Susy) died at 24 of spinal meningitis.  Another daughter Jean died of epilepsy. Clara Clemens, the middle daughter became an opera singer and lived to maturity, marrying twice.  HIs marriage was a happy one but the family had problems particularly due to health issues....

Mark was very interested in science, and became friends with the inventor Nikola Tesla .  He also patented inventions, and was eager to learn about science and technology.  One of his novels was “A Connecticut Yankee at the court of King Arthur”.. in which a time traveller goes back to the Middle Ages and uses his knowledge of technology to modernise life at Arthur’s court. 

Twain was torn between  a fondness for the past, and nostalgic love for his own childhood days, and a desire to improve life in the present. He was reform minded as an adult and was conscious of the wrongs of life in the past such as slavery.  But  his most admired books were popular because they were set in the past and were about childhood on the Mississippi, which was portrayed as a time of innocence and delight.

However while he was a very successful writer and made a lot of money, his dabbling in inventions led to the loss of a lot of his fortune.  He had invested a part of his wife’s fortune and his own savings in a type setting machine, but it did not do well because it was prone to breakdowns and it was soon superseded by another model.   He also tried to increase his income by founding a publishing company, which published some of his own works and the Memories of Ulysses S Grant…Although Grants memoirs sold well, and so did “Huckleberry Finn”, other books were less successful and within 10 years the firm had to declare bankruptcy.  The family were experiencing financial troubles in the early 1890s and closed their New England home to go to Europe.  Twain hoped that life in Europe would be cheaper and that he, his wife and Susy would benefit from visiting health spas on the Continent.   He still had money troubles but received financial advised from friends who were businessmen.  He declared bankruptcy but embarked on a long lecture tour to try and pay off his debts. He visited England and also lectured in America and Canada and India.