Pen Name (Mark Twain)

Samuel L. Clemens started using the pen name "Mark Twain" in 1863 (see Rasmussen et al. 2:774). Its first known appearance was in a letter published in the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise on 3 Feb. 1863 (see Rasmussen et al. 2:774).

The names' nautical origin (literally meaning "two marks" or 12 feet in measuring the depth of a river) were repeatedly explained to the general public in newspaper reports - sometimes in the form of a short article merely professing to present an interesting tidbit of information, sometimes in the form of longer musings and anecdotes about Clemens' life and his time as a Mississippi pilot.

"Mark Twain" was not the only pen name Clemens used, but it was the one he used most consistently in his publications (and sometimes in his private life) and which most shaped the perception of his public persona. Newspaper articles frequently mention both names (S. L. Clemens and Mark Twain) for clarity, but often use only Mark Twain to refer to the Clemens.

Article Pages

linked to Pen Name (24)

• IA-007 • [MT’s pen name] • 21 Jul 1885
• IA-026 • [Plasmon Bankruptcy] • 7 Jan 1908
• IL-035 • [MT travelling to New York] • 23 Feb 1895
• IL-038 • [MT’s bankruptcy] • 13 May 1895
• MD-096 • [W. W. Phelps invites to dinner] • 28 Nov 1891
• MD-152 • [Impoverished MT living in London] • 28 Jan 1897
• MD-217 • Aus Europa zurückgekehrt • 17 Oct 1900
• MD-233 • Unser Humorist • 1 Dec 1901
• MD-234 • Unser Humorist • 2 Dec 1901
• MD-322 • Mark Twain nach Bermuda • 27 Jan 1908
• MD-342 • Mark Twain gestorben • 23 Apr 1910
• ND-003 • “Mark Twain” gestorben • 28 Apr 1910
• ND-004 • Mark Twains Nachlaß • 1 Dec 1910
• NE-039 • Mark Twains Nachlaß • 18 Nov 1910
• OH-002 • [MT’s name] • 8 Sep 1872
• OH-012 • Strombilder vom Mississippi • 6 Jun 1880
• SD-003 • Wettfahrt auf dem Mississippi • 28 May 1903
• SD-013 • [MT attends dinner in Berlin] • 3 Dec 1891
• TX-011 • [Death of Jane Clemens] • 28 Oct 1890
• TX-012 • [MT and W. W. Phelps in Dresden] • 21 Dec 1891
• TX-038 • [MT back in New York] • 23 Oct 1900
• TX-069 • Mark Twain • 22 Apr 1910
• TX-073 • [MT’s estate] • 31 Oct 1910
• WI-011 • [Orthography and MT’s pen name] • 28 Sep 1906