Mark Twain - The Early Years | Biographical Documentary
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Published 2024-06-07
His colourful descriptions of a new and evolving nation and the rollicking tales of his travels around the globe are full of his irrepressible humour, but late in life his optimism deserted him when he faced financial ruin and lost his wife and two of his daughters. His writing turned darker, and he developed a strange fascination with teenage girls.
In this biography of one of America’s most beguiling characters, we explore whether Mark Twain, the eternal optimist, became a bitter and twisted old man as some have suggested, or retained the cheery, light-hearted persona that produced the books that have entertained and enchanted millions for over 150 years.
Part One focusses on the first 32 years of life, with Part Two to be released soon.
Finding Out More
I found Ron Powers biography, Mark Twain – a Life to be detailed and comprehensive without being too academic. There are other biographies that provide different viewpoints on his life and Mark Twain’s autobiography, which is very entertaining, if not entirely reliable! I have listed some of the best of these on my Amazon Store Page. www.amazon.com/shop/professorgraemeyorston
Academic References
Amare, N., & Manning, A. (2017). The Mormon Entombed in Mark Twain’s Heart: Ina Coolbrith and Samuel Clemens. Mark Twain Journal, 55(1/2), 159-192.
Csicsila, J. (2018). The England Trip of 1872: Mark Twain's First Season in Hell. The Mark Twain Annual, 16(1), 1-10.
Gribben, A. (1972). Mark Twain, phrenology and the" temperaments": A study of pseudoscientific influence. American Quarterly, 24(1), 45-68.
Harris, S. K. (1985). Mark Twain's Bad Women. Studies in American Fiction, 13(2), 157-168.
Jones, A. E. (1956). Mark Twain and sexuality. PMLA, 71(4-Part-1), 595-616.
Richers, J. E., & Cicchetti, D. (1993). Mark Twain meets DSM-III-R: Conduct disorder, development, and the concept of harmful dysfunction. Development and Psychopathology, 5(1-2), 5-29.
Selby, P. O. (1980). Osteopathy and Mark Twain. Mark Twain Journal, 20(3), 24-25.
Copyright Disclaimer
The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you.
Images
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Wellcome Collection
Library of Congress
Mark Twain House and Museum, Hartford, Ct.
Internet Archive
Music
Louis Moreau Gottschalk - Le Bananier Public domain
Louis Moreau Gottschalk - Tournament Galop - Rampart Winds of the United States Air Force Academy Band Public domain
Frédéric Chopin - Nocturne op 32 no 1 - Constantin Stephan CC4.0
Arabian Epic music - World Music official – CC3.0
Luau, Hawaiian Ukulele Music – Mikecolemusic – CC4.0
Cowboy Sting Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensecreativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
The Cow Boy Rag – Bobby Heath, Charley O'Donnell The Cowboy Rag
Claude Paul Taffanel - Wind Quintet in G minor -Andante -The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet CC2.0
Johann Sebastian Bach - Partita For Solo Flute, a minor (BWV 1013). Scott Goff, flute
Debussy Rêverie - Arr for Soprano saxophone and piano - David Hernando Vitores
Riding into the Sun Telecasted CC0
Bone Dry Telecasted CC0
Mark Gustavson A Fool’s Journey CC3.0
Ludwig van Beethoven - Octet The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet CC2.0
Growth/Decay Density and Time CC0
City Walk John Pattucci CC0 YouTube
Video produced by Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston.
All Comments (21)
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Oh what a wonderful subject! One of the best writers that I have ever read. You're doing him great justice Professor!
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“When I get the urge to exercise, I lay down until it passes.” Twain
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Very interesting and entertaining. I like your calm voice, too. Thank you. I'm eager for part 2!!
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Love this beautiful doc about Mark Twain!I grew up with Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn❤🇳🇱
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Twain's daughter Suzy wrote a biography titled, "My Papa, Mark Twain." A must read for Twain lovers. Enjoyed part 1, and waiting with strained patience for part 2. Love you channel.
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Great video. Favorite Twain quote (on his return from Germany): Journalist: "Mr. Twain, do the Germans have a sense of humor?" Twain: "Yes they do, but it's no laughing matter." 🙂
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It is great learning more about this famous writer. He did so much which he folded into his writing. Thank you!
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When I was in Junior High and my Dad realized that grounding me for "whatever" was a pointless and never-ending exercise, he started assigning books instead.. 1-3 depending on the offense with a timeline. I could go to the beach if I wanted but had to determine a balance.. I often went to the beach with a book. He would give me a "quiz" on each book afterward, Cliffs notes would not suffice, as he had read the books himself. Anyway, he suggested early on that I read Huck Finn every 5 to 10 years.. "You will get something new out of it every time.." Last time I read it was about 6 years ago.. I guess I may be "due".. 🤔
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My earliest memories of enjoyment in reading were made reading Mark Twain. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. I can still vividly recall my fascination with his exquisite prose. He began my love affair with language.
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Beautiful drawings
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You realize that Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are on the list of recently banned books?
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Where is Part 2? Please post a link. Excellent presentation! Love the typed quotes! Roughing It is one of my all time favorite books! When are you going to tackle Charles Dickens?
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Very interesting. Thank you for posting this.
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This is so well done! Thank you! Love from California 🌺
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Brilliant! We need to get you to the 100 000! Well done and lovely to see you today!
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This just popped up on my YouTube feed. Very enjoyable so I subscribed.
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Very much enjoyed this presentation, lots of things about Twain I didn’t know before. From the mid 1980’s- early 1990’s my husband and I (Americans) lived in Switzerland. Just about all of our American ex-pat friends and we read Twain’s “The Innocents Abroad”.. Amazing how applicable and funny this book was even though it was written so long ago! We all used to laugh at some of the parts and how we had similar experiences. Twain was funny in a rather snide way, but at the same time making serious points. Fond memories……….
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Enjoyed that, Prof. My favourite MT story was of the printer who abbreviated "Jesus Christ" to "J. Christ". When told by the angry clergyman who commissioned the pamphlet that "The Lord's name must never be abbreviated!" the printer obliged and set "Jesus H. Christ." Twain found that amusing and so did I.
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Any student of Thomas Paine is a friend of mine.
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As much as I'm enjoying your excellent content, I'm a bit scared when to expect part two, as I'm still waiting for the "Andy Warhol - the later years" video 🙈
