Historical Fiction Twain, Mark: Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. v1. 05 January 2015

[GrannyGrump]

PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF JOAN OF ARC
by Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) (1835–1910)

With an Appreciation by Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933), and an introduction by Albert Bigelow Paine (1861–1937).

First published in 1895. The text of this book is in the public domain world-wide, because the author died more than 100 years ago. Introductory material is in the public domain in countries where copyright is “Life+70” or less.
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Mark Twain is most noted for his novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called “the Great American Novel.”

This historical novel is presented as a translation (by the fictional “Jean François Alden”) of memoirs by Louis de Conte (a fictionalized version of Joan of Arc’s real-life page, Louis de Contes). It was serialized in Harper’s Monthly Magazine beginning in April 1895. Twain, aware of his reputation as a humorist, asked that each installment appear anonymously so that readers would treat the piece seriously. Regardless, his authorship soon became known, and the book published in May 1896 credited Mark Twain. [—Adapted from Wikipedia.]

This was Twain’s personal favorite of all his books, and he claimed to have spent twelve years in research and preparation to write it. At its core, the book is based on the facts from the transcripts of Joan’s heresy trials. The fictional details added by “Louis” flesh out a portrait of a remarkable heroine.

Twain’s love and admiration for the Maid shines from every page, and tempers his usual sardonic tone to one of reverence and poignance. The humor here is very gentle, with most of the comic relief provided by the Paladin, a bombastic bragging fellow. Yet even he, like the other men under Joan’s command, is heroic.

This account of the life and death of Joan d’Arc cannot be considered a “scholarly work.” However, it is a labor of love..

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Text transcription was proof-read and corrected against pdf scans (Vol. 17 and Vol. 18 of the Definitive Edition of the Writings of Mark Twain, 1923, Gabriel Wells publishing). Punctuation, diacritics, and italics have been formatted; scene breaks added; and chapter heads cross-linked to in-line Table of Contents.

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This is the Weight-Watchers version, with no illustrations. The illustrated version, in three volumes, is available on another thread.

Enjoy!

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