Mark Twain in Washington, D.C.: The Adventures of a Capital Correspondent

When young Samuel Clemens first visited the nation’s capital in 1854, both were rough around the edges and of dubious potential. Returning as Mark Twain in 1867, he brought his sharp eye and acerbic pen to the task of covering the capital for nearly a half-dozen newspapers. He fit in perfectly among the other hard-drinking and irreverent correspondents. His bohemian sojourn in Washington, D.C., has been largely overlooked, but his time in the capital city was catalytic to Twain’s rise as America’s foremost man of letters. While in Washington City, Twain received a publishing offer from the American Publishing Company that would jumpstart his fame. Through original research unearthing never-before-seen material, author John Muller explores how Mark Twain’s adventures as a capital correspondent proved to be a critical turning point in his career.