The Courtship of Olivia Langdon and Mark Tain [Paperback]

This biography places the correspondence and diaries of Langdon and Twain within the larger context of Victorian American culture.Olivia Langdon and Mark Twain spelled out their expectations through literary references as they corresponded during frequent separations. Working with their letters and diaries, this work traces the courtship within the larger context of Victorian American culture.Olivia Langdon and Mark Twain spelled out their expectations through literary references as they corresponded during frequent separations. Working with their letters and diaries, this work traces the courtship within the larger context of Victorian American culture.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. Working with Langdon's own letters and diaries as well as Twain's, Harris traces the progress of their courtship within the larger context of Victorian American culture, showing how the couple negotiated their relationship through the mediums of literature, material culture, and social and familial dynamics.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. Harris nimbly interweaving texts (letters, diaries) and contexts, dispels the mystery, bringing back the real Mrs. Twain: a woman of genuine intellectual reach, and a passionate reader in an era where that passion could itself be a kind of art. The New Yorker