The Courtship of Olivia Langdon and Mark Twain

Passionate readers both, Olivia Langdon and Mark Twain courted through books, spelling out their expectations through literary references as they corresponded during their frequent separations. Surprisingly, in the process Olivia Langdon reveals herself not as a hypochondriacal hysteric, as many twentieth-century critics have portrayed her, but as a thoughtful intellectual, widely read in literature, history and modern science. Not so surprisingly, Samuel Clemens reveals himself as a critic and a sceptic, lampooning Langdon’s physics lessons and her literary heroines. He also shows himself as an astute strategist, carefully manipulating Langdon and her parents. At the same time, Clemens’s letters exhibit his own conservatism about women’s nature and women’s roles, while Langdon’s show her carefully choosing from her culture’s array of possible role models.

• Uses primary documents to chart the courtship between Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and Olivia Langdon • Provides a biography of Samuel Clemens • Offers a study of gendered reading strategies

1. A commonplace book; 2. Philosophy and chemistry: science study in 1860s’ Elmira; 3. Negotiating difference: love letters and love texts; 4. Conning books: Olivia Langdon and Samuel Clemens’s joint reading; 5. Marriage.

‘This is cultural history with a light and critical touch … Harris’s close study of this particular courtship transaction has greatly enriched our understanding not only of the individuals concerned but of their contribution to that culture.’ The Review of English Studies