Czar-Alexander-Ii on Quint Books

Did Mark Twain meet the Czar?

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

One of the famous stories Mark Twain writes about in The Innocents Abroad is the meeting of Twain and his fellow excursionists with Czar Alexander II. Is it possible that Twain, who wrote about the event in newspaper accounts, and in his book, didn’t actually make it to the meeting with the Czar?

Twain writes to his mother (26 August, 1867) about the visit to the Czar, in detail. He also signed a letter (26 August, 1867) to ship owner Daniel Leary along with over twenty other passengers, thanking him for arranging the visit to the Czar. These would seem to lend credence to the idea that Twain was present.

The Quaker City in the Levant Herald

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

When Mark Twain was traveling on the Quaker City, the ship stopped twice in Constantinople (now the city of Istanbul) in Turkey. In Chapter 34 of The Innocents Abroad, Twain mentions the local English-language paper (actually bilingual, as it was printed in both English and French), The Levant Herald.

Twain mentions the paper and others in the city that were fighting censorship, in particular in their coverage of the revolt of Crete against Turkish rule (one of several revolts by Crete that eventually led to its brief period of independence between 1898 and 1913, when Crete became part of Greece).