Mark Twain’s German Critical Reception, 1875-1986: An Annotated Bibliography

This superb bibliography unlocks a wealth of early commentary and more recent scholarship relatively inaccessible to English-speaking readers. The generous annotations convey the spirit and essential points of hundreds of books and articles on Twain, making this an important acquisition for every college and university reference collection.

Thomas A. Tenney, Editor, Mark Twain Journal

Mark Twain, one of the most widely published American authors, has enjoyed immense popularity both in the United States and abroad. A fascinating aspect of this popularity is his wide acclaim in German-speaking countries, which stems not only from his literary accomplishments, but also his numerous visits to Europe and his extended stays in Vienna and Berlin.

This book is a comprehensive and extensively annotated bibliography which chronologically surveys Mark Twain’s German critical reception from 1875 through 1986. Within each year, items are listed alphabetically by author, and each item is assigned an entry number. English-language annotations accompany each bibliographic citation to assist the reader in ascertaining the flavor and scope of the cited material. Included are monographs, critical texts, reviews, reprints, newspaper articles, dissertations, excerpts from standard literary histories, and introductions and afterwords to editions of his works published in the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as the German Democratic Republic, Austria, and Switzerland. Entries are cross listed, and the volume includes a comprehensive 52-page index. This bibliography provides unique insight into Mark Twain from an often overlooked perspective; it will be of interest to students, scholars, and critics of this great American author, humorist and social critic.