IA-32 (''Intel Architecture, 32-bit''), also known as ''x86-32'', ''i386'' or ''x86'', is the instruction-set architecture of Intel's most commercially successful microprocessors yet. It is a 32-bit extension of x86 architecture and is first implemented in the Intel 80386. This architecture defines the instruction set for the family of microprocessors installed in the vast majority of personal computers in the world. IA-32 is a CISC architecture. This architecture is supplanted by x86-64.

History

The IA-32 instruction set was introduced in the Intel 80386 microprocessor in 1986 and remains the basis of most PC microprocessors over twenty years later. Even though the instruction set has remained intact, the successive generations of microprocessors that run it have become much faster. Within various programming language directives, IA-32 is still sometimes referred to as the "i386" architecture.

Intel Corporation is the inventor and the biggest supplier of IA-32 processors. The second biggest supplier is AMD. , both Intel and AMD have moved to x86-64, but still produce IA-32 processors such as Intel Atom and Geode. VIA Technologies continues to produce the VIA C3/VIA C7 family of "pure" IA-32 devices. For a time, Transmeta produced IA-32 processors.

See also

x86

x86-64

IA-64

Notes

References

Category:1985 introductions Category:x86 architecture

ar:IA-32 ca:IA-32 cs:IA-32 de:IA-32 es:IA-32 eo:IA-32 ga:IA-32 ko:IA-32 it:IA-32 nl:IA-32 ja:IA-32 no:IA-32 pl:IA-32 sk:IA-32 fi:IA-32 zh:IA-32

King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians. The sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the ''Annales Cambriae'', the ''Historia Brittonum'', and the writings of Gildas. Arthur's name also occurs in early poetic sources such as ''Y Gododdin''.

The legendary Arthur developed as a figure of international interest largely through the popularity of Geoffrey of Monmouth's fanciful and imaginative 12th-century ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' (''History of the Kings of Britain''). Some Welsh and Breton tales and poems relating the story of Arthur date from earlier than this work; in these works, Arthur appears either as a great warrior defending Britain from human and supernatural enemies or as a magical figure of folklore, sometimes associated with the Welsh Otherworld, Annwn. How much of Geoffrey's ''Historia'' (completed in 1138) was adapted from such earlier sources, rather than invented by Geoffrey himself, is unknown.

Although the themes, events and characters of the Arthurian legend varied widely from text to text, and there is no one canonical version, Geoffrey's version of events often served as the starting point for later stories. Geoffrey depicted Arthur as a king of Britain who defeated the Saxons and established an empire over Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and Gaul. Many elements and incidents that are now an integral part of the Arthurian story appear in Geoffrey's ''Historia'', including Arthur's father Uther Pendragon, the wizard Merlin, Arthur's wife Guinevere, the sword Excalibur, Arthur's conception at Tintagel, his final battle against Mordred at Camlann and final rest in Avalon. The 12th-century French writer Chrétien de Troyes, who added Lancelot and the Holy Grail to the story, began the genre of Arthurian romance that became a significant strand of medieval literature. In these French stories, the narrative focus often shifts from King Arthur himself to other characters, such as various Knights of the Round Table. Arthurian literature thrived during the Middle Ages but waned in the centuries that followed until it experienced a major resurgence in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the legend lives on, not only in literature but also in adaptations for theatre, film, television, comics and other media.

Debated historicity

The historical basis for the King Arthur legend has long been debated by scholars. The first datable mention of King Arthur is in a 9th century Latin text. One school of thought, citing entries in the ''Historia Brittonum'' (''History of the Britons'') and ''Annales Cambriae'' (''Welsh Annals''), sees Arthur as a genuine historical figure, a Romano-British leader who fought against the invading Anglo-Saxons sometime in the late 5th to early 6th century. The ''Historia Brittonum'', a 9th-century Latin historical compilation attributed in some late manuscripts to a Welsh cleric called Nennius, lists twelve battles that Arthur fought. These culminate in the Battle of Mons Badonicus, or Mount Badon, where he is said to have single-handedly killed 960 men. Recent studies, however, question the reliability of the ''Historia Brittonum'' as a source for the history of this period.

The other text that seems to support the case for Arthur's historical existence is the 10th-century ''Annales Cambriae'', which also link Arthur with the Battle of Mount Badon. The ''Annales'' date this battle to 516–518, and also mention the Battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut (Mordred) were both killed, dated to 537–539. These details have often been used to bolster confidence in the ''Historia'''s account and to confirm that Arthur really did fight at Mount Badon. Problems have been identified, however, with using this source to support the ''Historia Brittonum'''s account. The latest research shows that the ''Annales Cambriae'' was based on a chronicle begun in the late 8th century in Wales. Additionally, the complex textual history of the ''Annales Cambriae'' precludes any certainty that the Arthurian annals were added to it even that early. They were more likely added at some point in the 10th century and may never have existed in any earlier set of annals. The Mount Badon entry probably derived from the ''Historia Brittonum''.

This lack of convincing early evidence is the reason many recent historians exclude Arthur from their accounts of sub-Roman Britain. In the view of historian Thomas Charles-Edwards, "at this stage of the enquiry, one can only say that there may well have been an historical Arthur [but ...] the historian can as yet say nothing of value about him". These modern admissions of ignorance are a relatively recent trend; earlier generations of historians were less sceptical. Historian John Morris made the putative reign of Arthur the organising principle of his history of sub-Roman Britain and Ireland, ''The Age of Arthur'' (1973). Even so, he found little to say about a historical Arthur.

Partly in reaction to such theories, another school of thought emerged which argued that Arthur had no historical existence at all. Morris's ''Age of Arthur'' prompted archaeologist Nowell Myres to observe that "no figure on the borderline of history and mythology has wasted more of the historian's time". Gildas' 6th-century polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'' (''On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain''), written within living memory of Mount Badon, mentions the battle but does not mention Arthur. Arthur is not mentioned in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' or named in any surviving manuscript written between 400 and 820. He is absent from Bede's early 8th-century ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'', another major early source for post-Roman history that mentions Mount Badon. Historian David Dumville has written: "I think we can dispose of him [Arthur] quite briefly. He owes his place in our history books to a 'no smoke without fire' school of thought ... The fact of the matter is that there is no historical evidence about Arthur; we must reject him from our histories and, above all, from the titles of our books."

Some scholars argue that Arthur was originally a fictional hero of folklore—or even a half-forgotten Celtic deity—who became credited with real deeds in the distant past. They cite parallels with figures such as the Kentish totemic horse-gods Hengest and Horsa, who later became historicised. Bede ascribed to these legendary figures a historical role in the 5th-century Anglo-Saxon conquest of eastern Britain. It is not even certain that Arthur was considered a king in the early texts. Neither the ''Historia'' nor the ''Annales'' calls him "''rex''": the former calls him instead "''dux bellorum''" (leader of battles) and "''miles''" (soldier).

Historical documents for the post-Roman period are scarce, so a definitive answer to the question of Arthur's historical existence is unlikely. Sites and places have been identified as "Arthurian" since the 12th century, but archaeology can confidently reveal names only through inscriptions found in secure contexts. The so-called "Arthur stone", discovered in 1998 among the ruins at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall in securely dated 6th-century contexts, created a brief stir but proved irrelevant. Other inscriptional evidence for Arthur, including the Glastonbury cross, is tainted with the suggestion of forgery. Although several historical figures have been proposed as the basis for Arthur, no convincing evidence for these identifications has emerged.

Name

The origin of the name Arthur remains a matter of debate. Some suggest it is derived from the Roman ''nomen gentile'' (family name) ''Artōrius'', of obscure and contested etymology (but possibly of Messapic or Etruscan origin). Some scholars have suggested it is relevant to this debate that the legendary King Arthur's name only appears as ''Arthur'', or ''Arturus'', in early Latin Arthurian texts, never as ''Artōrius'' (though it should be noted that Classical Latin Artōrius became Arturius in some Vulgar Latin dialects). However, this may not say anything about the origin of the name ''Arthur'', as ''Artōrius'' would regularly become ''Art(h)ur'' when borrowed into Welsh.

Another possibility is that it is derived from a Brittonic patronym ''*Arto-rīg-ios'' (the root of which, ''*arto-rīg-'' "bear-king" is to be found in the Old Irish personal name ''Art-ri'') via a Latinized form Artōrius. Less likely is the commonly proposed derivation from Welsh ''arth'' "bear" + (g)wr "man" (earlier ''*Arto-uiros'' in Brittonic); there are phonological difficulties with this theory—notably that a Brittonic compound name ''*Arto-uiros'' should produce Old Welsh ''*Artgur'' and Middle/Modern Welsh ''*Arthwr'' and not ''Arthur'' (in Welsh poetry the name is always spelled ''Arthur'' and is exclusively rhymed with words ending in ''-ur'' - never words ending in ''-wr'' - which confirms that the second element cannot be ''[g]wr'' "man").

An alternative theory, which has gained only limited acceptance among professional scholars, derives the name Arthur from Arcturus, the brightest star in the constellation Boötes, near Ursa Major or the Great Bear. Classical Latin ''Arcturus'' would also have become ''Art(h)ur'' when borrowed into Welsh, and its brightness and position in the sky led people to regard it as the "guardian of the bear" (which is the meaning of the name in Ancient Greek) and the "leader" of the other stars in Boötes.

A similar first name is Old Irish ''Artúr'', which is believed to be derived directly from an early Old Welsh or Cumbric ''Artur''. The earliest historically attested bearer of the name is a son or grandson of Áedán mac Gabráin (d. AD 609),

Medieval literary traditions

The creator of the familiar literary persona of Arthur was Geoffrey of Monmouth, with his pseudo-historical ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' (''History of the Kings of Britain''), written in the 1130s. The textual sources for Arthur are usually divided into those written before Geoffrey's ''Historia'' (known as pre-Galfridian texts, from the Latin form of Geoffrey, ''Galfridus'') and those written afterwards, which could not avoid his influence (Galfridian, or post-Galfridian, texts).

Pre-Galfridian traditions

The earliest literary references to Arthur come from Welsh and Breton sources. There have been few attempts to define the nature and character of Arthur in the pre-Galfridian tradition as a whole, rather than in a single text or text/story-type. One recent academic survey that does attempt this, by Thomas Green, identifies three key strands to the portrayal of Arthur in this earliest material. The first is that he was a peerless warrior who functioned as the monster-hunting protector of Britain from all internal and external threats. Some of these are human threats, such as the Saxons he fights in the ''Historia Brittonum'', but the majority are supernatural, including giant cat-monsters, destructive divine boars, dragons, dogheads, giants and witches. The second is that the pre-Galfridian Arthur was a figure of folklore (particularly topographic or onomastic folklore) and localised magical wonder-tales, the leader of a band of superhuman heroes who live in the wilds of the landscape. The third and final strand is that the early Welsh Arthur had a close connection with the Welsh Otherworld, Annwn. On the one hand, he launches assaults on Otherworldly fortresses in search of treasure and frees their prisoners. On the other, his warband in the earliest sources includes former pagan gods, and his wife and his possessions are clearly Otherworldly in origin.

One of the most famous Welsh poetic references to Arthur comes in the collection of heroic death-songs known as ''Y Gododdin'' (''The Gododdin''), attributed to the 6th-century poet Aneirin. In one stanza, the bravery of a warrior who slew 300 enemies is praised, but it is then noted that despite this "he was no Arthur", that is to say his feats cannot compare to the valour of Arthur. ''Y Gododdin'' is known only from a 13th-century manuscript, so it is impossible to determine whether this passage is original or a later interpolation, but John Koch's view that the passage dates from a 7th-century or earlier version is regarded as unproven; 9th- or 10th-century dates are often proposed for it. Several poems attributed to Taliesin, a poet said to have lived in the 6th century, also refer to Arthur, although these all probably date from between the 8th and 12th centuries. They include "Kadeir Teyrnon" ("The Chair of the Prince"), which refers to "Arthur the Blessed", "Preiddeu Annwn" ("The Spoils of Annwn"), which recounts an expedition of Arthur to the Otherworld, and "Marwnat vthyr pen[dragon]" ("The Elegy of Uther Pen[dragon]"), which refers to Arthur's valour and is suggestive of a father-son relationship for Arthur and Uther that pre-dates Geoffrey of Monmouth. Other early Welsh Arthurian texts include a poem found in the ''Black Book of Carmarthen'', "Pa gur yv y porthaur?" ("What man is the gatekeeper?"). This takes the form of a dialogue between Arthur and the gatekeeper of a fortress he wishes to enter, in which Arthur recounts the names and deeds of himself and his men, notably Cei (Kay) and Bedwyr (Bedivere). The Welsh prose tale ''Culhwch and Olwen'' (c. 1100), included in the modern Mabinogion collection, has a much longer list of more than 200 of Arthur's men, though Cei and Bedwyr again take a central place. The story as a whole tells of Arthur helping his kinsman Culhwch win the hand of Olwen, daughter of Ysbaddaden Chief-Giant, by completing a series of apparently impossible tasks, including the hunt for the great semi-divine boar Twrch Trwyth. The 9th-century ''Historia Brittonum'' also refers to this tale, with the boar there named Troy(n)t. Finally, Arthur is mentioned numerous times in the ''Welsh Triads'', a collection of short summaries of Welsh tradition and legend which are classified into groups of three linked characters or episodes in order to assist recall. The later manuscripts of the Triads are partly derivative from Geoffrey of Monmouth and later continental traditions, but the earliest ones show no such influence and are usually agreed to refer to pre-existing Welsh traditions. Even in these, however, Arthur's court has started to embody legendary Britain as a whole, with "Arthur's Court" sometimes substituted for "The Island of Britain" in the formula "Three XXX of the Island of Britain". While it is not clear from the ''Historia Brittonum'' and the ''Annales Cambriae'' that Arthur was even considered a king, by the time ''Culhwch and Olwen'' and the Triads were written he had become ''Penteyrnedd yr Ynys hon'', "Chief of the Lords of this Island", the overlord of Wales, Cornwall and the North.

In addition to these pre-Galfridian Welsh poems and tales, Arthur appears in some other early Latin texts besides the ''Historia Brittonum'' and the ''Annales Cambriae''. In particular, Arthur features in a number of well-known ''vitae'' ("Lives") of post-Roman saints, none of which are now generally considered to be reliable historical sources (the earliest probably dates from the 11th century). According to the ''Life of Saint Gildas'', written in the early 12th century by Caradoc of Llancarfan, Arthur is said to have killed Gildas' brother Hueil and to have rescued his wife Gwenhwyfar from Glastonbury. In the ''Life of Saint Cadoc'', written around 1100 or a little before by Lifris of Llancarfan, the saint gives protection to a man who killed three of Arthur's soldiers, and Arthur demands a herd of cattle as ''wergeld'' for his men. Cadoc delivers them as demanded, but when Arthur takes possession of the animals, they turn into bundles of ferns. Similar incidents are described in the medieval biographies of Carannog, Padarn and Eufflam, probably written around the 12th century. A less obviously legendary account of Arthur appears in the ''Legenda Sancti Goeznovii'', which is often claimed to date from the early 11th century although the earliest manuscript of this text dates from the 15th century. Also important are the references to Arthur in William of Malmesbury's ''De Gestis Regum Anglorum'' and Herman's ''De Miraculis Sanctae Mariae Laudensis'', which together provide the first certain evidence for a belief that Arthur was not actually dead and would at some point return, a theme that is often revisited in post-Galfridian folklore.

Geoffrey of Monmouth

The first narrative account of Arthur's life is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin work ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' (''History of the Kings of Britain''). This work, completed c. 1138, is an imaginative and fanciful account of British kings from the legendary Trojan exile Brutus to the 7th-century Welsh king Cadwallader. Geoffrey places Arthur in the same post-Roman period as do ''Historia Brittonum'' and ''Annales Cambriae''. He incorporates Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, his magician advisor Merlin, and the story of Arthur's conception, in which Uther, disguised as his enemy Gorlois by Merlin's magic, sleeps with Gorlois's wife Igerna at Tintagel, and she conceives Arthur. On Uther's death, the fifteen-year-old Arthur succeeds him as King of Britain and fights a series of battles, similar to those in the ''Historia Brittonum'', culminating in the Battle of Bath. He then defeats the Picts and Scots before creating an Arthurian empire through his conquests of Ireland, Iceland and the Orkney Islands. After twelve years of peace, Arthur sets out to expand his empire once more, taking control of Norway, Denmark and Gaul. Gaul is still held by the Roman Empire when it is conquered, and Arthur's victory naturally leads to a further confrontation between his empire and Rome's. Arthur and his warriors, including Kaius (Kay), Beduerus (Bedivere) and Gualguanus (Gawain), defeat the Roman emperor Lucius Tiberius in Gaul but, as he prepares to march on Rome, Arthur hears that his nephew Modredus (Mordred)—whom he had left in charge of Britain—has married his wife Guenhuuara (Guinevere) and seized the throne. Arthur returns to Britain and defeats and kills Modredus on the river Camblam in Cornwall, but he is mortally wounded. He hands the crown to his kinsman Constantine and is taken to the isle of Avalon to be healed of his wounds, never to be seen again.

How much of this narrative was Geoffrey's own invention is open to debate. Certainly, Geoffrey seems to have made use of the list of Arthur's twelve battles against the Saxons found in the 9th-century ''Historia Brittonum'', along with the battle of Camlann from the ''Annales Cambriae'' and the idea that Arthur was still alive. Arthur's personal status as the king of all Britain would also seem to be borrowed from pre-Galfridian tradition, being found in ''Culhwch and Olwen'', the ''Triads'' and the Saints' Lives. In addition, many of the elements that Monmouth's King Arthur includes are strong parallels to "Culhwch and Olwen." The motifs and themes of loyalty, honor, giants, gift giving, wife-stealing, and magical creatures are prominent in both stories. Furthermore, Monmouth derived many of his character's names from "Culhwch and Olwen"; Sir Kay comes from "Kai"; Sir Bedivere is derived from "Bedwyr"; and lastly Sir Gawain is "Gwalchmei" in Welsh. Also, the heroines of both tales have similar names: the meaning of Guinever is "White Phantom", while Olwen equates with "of the white track." Finally, Geoffrey borrowed many of the names for Arthur's possessions, close family and companions from the pre-Galfridian Welsh tradition, including Kaius (Cei), Beduerus (Bedwyr), Guenhuuara (Gwenhwyfar), Uther (Uthyr) and perhaps also Caliburnus (Caledfwlch), the latter becoming Excalibur in subsequent Arthurian tales. However, while names, key events and titles may have been borrowed, Brynley Roberts has argued that "the Arthurian section is Geoffrey’s literary creation and it owes nothing to prior narrative." So, for instance, the Welsh Medraut is made the villainous Modredus by Geoffrey, but there is no trace of such a negative character for this figure in Welsh sources until the 16th century. There have been relatively few modern attempts to challenge this notion that the ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' is primarily Geoffrey's own work, with scholarly opinion often echoing William of Newburgh's late-12th-century comment that Geoffrey "made up" his narrative, perhaps through an "inordinate love of lying". Geoffrey Ashe is one dissenter from this view, believing that Geoffrey's narrative is partially derived from a lost source telling of the deeds of a 5th-century British king named Riotamus, this figure being the original Arthur, although historians and Celticists have been reluctant to follow Ashe in his conclusions.

Whatever his sources may have been, the immense popularity of Geoffrey's ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' cannot be denied. Well over 200 manuscript copies of Geoffrey’s Latin work are known to have survived, and this does not include translations into other languages. Thus, for example, around 60 manuscripts are extant containing Welsh-language versions of the ''Historia'', the earliest of which were created in the 13th century; the old notion that some of these Welsh versions actually underlie Geoffrey's ''Historia'', advanced by antiquarians such as the 18th-century Lewis Morris, has long since been discounted in academic circles. As a result of this popularity, Geoffrey's ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' was enormously influential on the later medieval development of the Arthurian legend. While it was by no means the only creative force behind Arthurian romance, many of its elements were borrowed and developed (e.g., Merlin and the final fate of Arthur), and it provided the historical framework into which the romancers' tales of magical and wonderful adventures were inserted.

Romance traditions

The popularity of Geoffrey's ''Historia'' and its other derivative works (such as Wace's ''Roman de Brut'') is generally agreed to be an important factor in explaining the appearance of significant numbers of new Arthurian works in continental Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries, particularly in France. It was not, however, the only Arthurian influence on the developing "Matter of Britain". There is clear evidence for a knowledge of Arthur and Arthurian tales on the Continent before Geoffrey's work became widely known (see for example, the Modena Archivolt), as well as for the use of "Celtic" names and stories not found in Geoffrey's ''Historia'' in the Arthurian romances. From the perspective of Arthur, perhaps the most significant effect of this great outpouring of new Arthurian story was on the role of the king himself: much of this 12th-century and later Arthurian literature centres less on Arthur himself than on characters such as Lancelot and Guenevere, Perceval, Galahad, Gawain, and Tristan and Isolde. Whereas Arthur is very much at the centre of the pre-Galfridian material and Geoffrey's ''Historia'' itself, in the romances he is rapidly sidelined. His character also alters significantly. In both the earliest materials and Geoffrey he is a great and ferocious warrior, who laughs as he personally slaughters witches and giants and takes a leading role in all military campaigns, whereas in the continental romances he becomes the ''roi fainéant'', the "do-nothing king", whose "inactivity and acquiescence constituted a central flaw in his otherwise ideal society". Arthur's role in these works is frequently that of a wise, dignified, even-tempered, somewhat bland, and occasionally feeble monarch. So, he simply turns pale and silent when he learns of Lancelot's affair with Guinevere in the ''Mort Artu'', whilst in Chrétien de Troyes's ''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion'' he is unable to stay awake after a feast and has to retire for a nap. Nonetheless, as Norris J. Lacy has observed, whatever his faults and frailties may be in these Arthurian romances, "his prestige is never—or almost never—compromised by his personal weaknesses ... his authority and glory remain intact."

Arthur and his retinue appear in some of the ''Lais'' of Marie de France, but it was the work of another French poet, Chrétien de Troyes, that had the greatest influence with regard to the above development of the character of Arthur and his legend. Chrétien wrote five Arthurian romances between c. 1170 and c. 1190. ''Erec and Enide'' and ''Cligès'' are tales of courtly love with Arthur's court as their backdrop, demonstrating the shift away from the heroic world of the Welsh and Galfridian Arthur, while ''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion'' features Yvain and Gawain in a supernatural adventure, with Arthur very much on the sidelines and weakened. However, the most significant for the development of the Arthurian legend are ''Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart'', which introduces Lancelot and his adulterous relationship with Arthur's queen (Guinevere), extending and popularizing the recurring theme of Arthur as a cuckold, and ''Perceval, the Story of the Grail'', which introduces the Holy Grail and the Fisher King and which again sees Arthur having a much reduced role. Chrétien was thus "instrumental both in the elaboration of the Arthurian legend and in the establishment of the ideal form for the diffusion of that legend", and much of what came after him in terms of the portrayal of Arthur and his world built upon the foundations he had laid. ''Perceval'', although unfinished, was particularly popular: four separate continuations of the poem appeared over the next half century, with the notion of the Grail and its quest being developed by other writers such as Robert de Boron, a fact that helped accelerate the decline of Arthur in continental romance. Similarly, Lancelot and his cuckolding of Arthur with Guinevere became one of the classic motifs of the Arthurian legend, although the Lancelot of the prose ''Lancelot'' (c. 1225) and later texts was a combination of Chrétien's character and that of Ulrich von Zatzikhoven's ''Lanzelet''. Chrétien's work even appears to feed back into Welsh Arthurian literature, with the result that the romance Arthur began to replace the heroic, active Arthur in Welsh literary tradition. Particularly significant in this development were the three Welsh Arthurian romances, which are closely similar to those of Chrétien, albeit with some significant differences: ''Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain'' is related to Chrétien's ''Yvain''; ''Geraint and Enid'', to ''Erec and Enide''; and ''Peredur son of Efrawg'', to ''Perceval''. Up to c. 1210, continental Arthurian romance was expressed primarily through poetry; after this date the tales began to be told in prose. The most significant of these 13th-century prose romances was the Vulgate Cycle (also known as the Lancelot-Grail Cycle), a series of five Middle French prose works written in the first half of that century. These works were the ''Estoire del Saint Grail'', the ''Estoire de Merlin'', the ''Lancelot propre'' (or Prose ''Lancelot'', which made up half the entire Vulgate Cycle on its own), the ''Queste del Saint Graal'' and the ''Mort Artu'', which combine to form the first coherent version of the entire Arthurian legend. The cycle continued the trend towards reducing the role played by Arthur in his own legend, partly through the introduction of the character of Galahad and an expansion of the role of Merlin. It also made Mordred the result of an incestuous relationship between Arthur and his sister and established the role of Camelot, first mentioned in passing in Chrétien's ''Lancelot'', as Arthur's primary court. This series of texts was quickly followed by the Post-Vulgate Cycle (c. 1230–40), of which the ''Suite du Merlin'' is a part, which greatly reduced the importance of Lancelot's affair with Guinevere but continued to sideline Arthur, now in order to focus more on the Grail quest. As such, Arthur became even more of a relatively minor character in these French prose romances; in the Vulgate itself he only figures significantly in the ''Estoire de Merlin'' and the ''Mort Artu''.

The development of the medieval Arthurian cycle and the character of the "Arthur of romance" culminated in ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', Thomas Malory's retelling of the entire legend in a single work in English in the late 15th century. Malory based his book—originally titled ''The Whole Book of King Arthur and of His Noble Knights of the Round Table''—on the various previous romance versions, in particular the Vulgate Cycle, and appears to have aimed at creating a comprehensive and authoritative collection of Arthurian stories. Perhaps as a result of this, and the fact that ''Le Morte D'Arthur'' was one of the earliest printed books in England, published by William Caxton in 1485, most later Arthurian works are derivative of Malory's.

Decline, revival, and the modern legend

Post-medieval literature

The end of the Middle Ages brought with it a waning of interest in King Arthur. Although Malory's English version of the great French romances was popular, there were increasing attacks upon the truthfulness of the historical framework of the Arthurian romances—established since Geoffrey of Monmouth's time—and thus the legitimacy of the whole Matter of Britain. So, for example, the 16th-century humanist scholar Polydore Vergil famously rejected the claim that Arthur was the ruler of a post-Roman empire, found throughout the post-Galfridian medieval "chronicle tradition", to the horror of Welsh and English antiquarians. Social changes associated with the end of the medieval period and the Renaissance also conspired to rob the character of Arthur and his associated legend of some of their power to enthral audiences, with the result that 1634 saw the last printing of Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' for nearly 200 years. King Arthur and the Arthurian legend were not entirely abandoned, but until the early 19th century the material was taken less seriously and was often used simply as vehicle for allegories of 17th- and 18th-century politics. Thus Richard Blackmore's epics ''Prince Arthur'' (1695) and ''King Arthur'' (1697) feature Arthur as an allegory for the struggles of William III against James II. Similarly, the most popular Arthurian tale throughout this period seems to have been that of Tom Thumb, which was told first through chapbooks and later through the political plays of Henry Fielding; although the action is clearly set in Arthurian Britain, the treatment is humorous and Arthur appears as a primarily comedic version of his romance character.

John Dryden's masque ''King Arthur'' is still performed, largely thanks to Henry Purcell's music, though seldom unabridged.

Tennyson and the revival

In the early 19th century, medievalism, Romanticism, and the Gothic Revival reawakened interest in Arthur and the medieval romances. A new code of ethics for 19th-century gentlemen was shaped around the chivalric ideals that the "Arthur of romance" embodied. This renewed interest first made itself felt in 1816, when Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' was reprinted for the first time since 1634. Initially the medieval Arthurian legends were of particular interest to poets, inspiring, for example, William Wordsworth to write "The Egyptian Maid" (1835), an allegory of the Holy Grail. Pre-eminent among these was Alfred Lord Tennyson, whose first Arthurian poem, "The Lady of Shalott", was published in 1832. Although Arthur himself played a minor role in some of these works, following in the medieval romance tradition, Tennyson's Arthurian work reached its peak of popularity with ''Idylls of the King'', which reworked the entire narrative of Arthur's life for the Victorian era. First published in 1859, it sold 10,000 copies within the first week. In the ''Idylls'', Arthur became a symbol of ideal manhood whose attempt to establish a perfect kingdom on earth fails, finally, through human weakness. Tennyson's works prompted a large number of imitators, generated considerable public interest in the legends of Arthur and the character himself, and brought Malory’s tales to a wider audience. Indeed, the first modernization of Malory's great compilation of Arthur's tales was published shortly after ''Idylls'' appeared, in 1862, and there were six further editions and five competitors before the century ended.

This interest in the "Arthur of romance" and his associated stories continued through the 19th century and into the 20th, and influenced poets such as William Morris and Pre-Raphaelite artists including Edward Burne-Jones. Even the humorous tale of Tom Thumb, which had been the primary manifestation of Arthur's legend in the 18th century, was rewritten after the publication of ''Idylls''. While Tom maintained his small stature and remained a figure of comic relief, his story now included more elements from the medieval Arthurian romances, and Arthur is treated more seriously and historically in these new versions. The revived Arthurian romance also proved influential in the United States, with such books as Sidney Lanier's ''The Boy's King Arthur'' (1880) reaching wide audiences and providing inspiration for Mark Twain's satiric ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'' (1889). Although the "Arthur of romance" was sometimes central to these new Arthurian works (as he was in Burne-Jones's ''The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon'', 1881–1898), on other occasions he reverted back to his medieval status and is either marginalised or even missing entirely, with Wagner's Arthurian operas providing a notable instance of the latter. Furthermore, the revival of interest in Arthur and the Arthurian tales did not continue unabated. By the end of the 19th century, it was confined mainly to Pre-Raphaelite imitators, and it could not avoid being affected by the First World War, which damaged the reputation of chivalry and thus interest in its medieval manifestations and Arthur as chivalric role model. The romance tradition did, however, remain sufficiently powerful to persuade Thomas Hardy, Laurence Binyon and John Masefield to compose Arthurian plays, and T. S. Eliot alludes to the Arthur myth (but not Arthur) in his poem ''The Waste Land'', which mentions the Fisher King.

Modern legend

In the latter half of the 20th century, the influence of the romance tradition of Arthur continued, through novels such as T. H. White's ''The Once and Future King'' (1958) and Marion Zimmer Bradley's ''The Mists of Avalon'' (1982) in addition to comic strips such as ''Prince Valiant'' (from 1937 onward). Tennyson had reworked the romance tales of Arthur to suit and comment upon the issues of his day, and the same is often the case with modern treatments too. Bradley's tale, for example, takes a feminist approach to Arthur and his legend, in contrast to the narratives of Arthur found in medieval materials, and American authors often rework the story of Arthur to be more consistent with values such as equality and democracy. The romance Arthur has become popular in film and theatre as well. T. H. White's novel was adapted into the Lerner-Loewe stage musical ''Camelot'' (1960) and the Disney animated film ''The Sword in the Stone'' (1963); ''Camelot'' itself, with its focus on the love of Lancelot and Guinevere and the cuckolding of Arthur, was itself made into a film of the same name in 1967. The romance tradition of Arthur is particularly evident and, according to critics, successfully handled in Robert Bresson's ''Lancelot du Lac'' (1974), Eric Rohmer's ''Perceval le Gallois'' (1978) and perhaps John Boorman's fantasy film ''Excalibur'' (1981); it is also the main source of the material utilised in the Arthurian spoof ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975).

Re-tellings and re-imaginings of the romance tradition are not the only important aspect of the modern legend of King Arthur. Attempts to portray Arthur as a genuine historical figure of c. 500 AD, stripping away the "romance", have also emerged. As Taylor and Brewer have noted, this return to the medieval "chronicle tradition"' of Geoffrey of Monmouth and the ''Historia Brittonum'' is a recent trend which became dominant in Arthurian literature in the years following the outbreak of the Second World War, when Arthur's legendary resistance to Germanic invaders struck a chord in Britain. Clemence Dane's series of radio plays, ''The Saviours'' (1942), used a historical Arthur to embody the spirit of heroic resistance against desperate odds, and Robert Sherriff's play ''The Long Sunset'' (1955) saw Arthur rallying Romano-British resistance against the Germanic invaders. This trend towards placing Arthur in a historical setting is also apparent in historical and fantasy novels published during this period. In recent years the portrayal of Arthur as a real hero of the 5th century has also made its way into film versions of the Arthurian legend, most notably the TV series ''Arthur of the Britons'' and the feature films ''King Arthur'' (2004) and ''The Last Legion'' (2007). The 2008 BBC series ''Merlin'' is a reimagining of the legend in which the future King Arthur and Merlin are young contemporaries. ''Camelot'' (2011) is an exclusive short series of episodes which depict Arthur in ancient Briton and his struggle for the throne. Also, a recent Disney film, ''Avalon High'' has been released, the story about a modern day King Arthur and his knights of the round table.

Legacy as a role model

In European Christian culture of the Middle Ages Arthur was created a member of the Nine Worthies, a group of heroes encapsulating all the ideal qualities of chivalry. His life was thus proposed as a valuable subject for study by those aspiring to chivalric status. This aspect of Arthur in the Nine Worthies was popularised firstly through literature, and was thereafter adopted as a frequent subject for painters and sculptors. Arthur has also been used as a model for modern-day behaviour. In the 1930s, the Order of the Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table formed in Britain to promote Christian ideals and Arthurian notions of medieval chivalry. In the United States, hundreds of thousands of boys and girls joined Arthurian youth groups, such as the Knights of King Arthur, in which Arthur and his legends were promoted as wholesome exemplars.

Legacy in popular culture

Arthur's diffusion within contemporary culture goes beyond obviously Arthurian endeavours, with Arthurian names being regularly attached to objects, buildings and places. As Norris J. Lacy has observed, "The popular notion of Arthur appears to be limited, not surprisingly, to a few motifs and names, but there can be no doubt of the extent to which a legend born many centuries ago is profoundly embedded in modern culture at every level."

See also

Historical basis for King Arthur

King Arthur's family

King Arthur's messianic return

King Arthur's weapons

List of Arthurian characters

List of books about King Arthur

List of films based on Arthurian legend

Nine Worthies, of which Arthur was one

Notes

References

. . . . . . . . . Second ed. . . . . . . . 2nd. ed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (EBSCO subscription required for online access.) . . Conference paper. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 vols. . . . . . . . . . (JSTOR subscription required for online access.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 vols. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trans. Thomas Kerth. . Third, revised, ed. . . . . . .

External links

. An excellent site detailing Welsh Arthurian folklore. . A detailed and comprehensive academic site, which includes numerous scholarly articles, from Thomas Green of Oxford University. . The only academic journal solely concerned with the Arthurian Legend; a good selection of resources and links. . Provides texts and translations (of varying quality) of Welsh medieval sources, many of which mention Arthur. . An interesting collection of articles on King Arthur by various Arthurian enthusiasts. . . Provides valuable bibliographies and freely downloadable versions of Arthurian texts. . An online peer-reviewed journal that includes regular Arthurian articles; see especially the first issue.

*"Arthur and Gorlagon", translated by Frank A. Milne, notes by Alfred Nutt. ''Folk-Lore''. Volume 15, 1904.

Category:5th-century births Category:6th-century deaths Category:Arthurian characters Category:British traditional history Category:Britons of the Southwest Category:Burials at Glastonbury Abbey Category:Medieval legends Category:Monarchs of Cornwall Category:Monomyths Category:Mythological kings Category:People in Cornish history Category:Sub-Roman Britain Category:Sub-Roman monarchs Category:Welsh monarchs Category:Welsh mythology Category:Cornish culture Category:People whose existence is disputed Category:Monty Python characters

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Coordinates	35°27′″N139°38′″N
name	Mark Twain
birth name	Samuel Langhorne Clemens
pseudonym	Mark Twain
birth date	November 30, 1835
birth place	Florida, Missouri, U.S.
death date	April 21, 1910
death place	Redding, Connecticut, U.S.
occupation	Writer, lecturer
nationality	American
genre	Fiction, historical fiction, children's literature, non-fiction, travel literature, satire, essay, philosophical literature, social commentary, literary criticism
signature	Mark Twain Signatures-2.svg
notableworks	''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer''
spouse
children	Langdon, Susy, Clara, Jean }}

thumb|right|265px|~ Mark Twain ~~ aka ~~ Samuel Clemens ~[[Postage stamps and postal history of the United States#Famous Americans Series of 1940|National Honor given to TwainUS Commemorative Issue of 1940]]

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He 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."

Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for ''Huckleberry Finn'' and ''Tom Sawyer''. He apprenticed with a printer. He also worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper. After toiling as a printer in various cities, he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River, before heading west to join Orion. He was a failure at gold mining, so he next turned to journalism. While a reporter, he wrote a humorous story, ''The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'', which became very popular and brought nationwide attention. His travelogues were also well-received. Twain had found his calling.

He achieved great success as a writer and public speaker. His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.

However, he lacked financial acumen. Though he made a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he squandered it on various ventures, in particular the Paige Compositor, and was forced to declare bankruptcy. With the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers, however, he eventually overcame his financial troubles. Twain worked hard to ensure that all of his creditors were paid in full, even though his bankruptcy had relieved him of the legal responsibility.

Twain was born during a visit by Halley's Comet, and predicted that he would "go out with it" as well. He died the day following the comet's subsequent return. He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age," and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature."

Early life

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835, to a Tennessee country merchant, John Marshall Clemens (August 11, 1798 – March 24, 1847), and Jane Lampton Clemens (June 18, 1803 – October 27, 1890).

Twain was the sixth of seven children. Only three of his siblings survived childhood: his brother Orion (July 17, 1825 – December 11, 1897); Henry, who died in a riverboat explosion (July 13, 1838 – June 21, 1858); and Pamela (September 19, 1827 – August 31, 1904). His sister Margaret (May 31, 1830 – August 17, 1839) died when Twain was three, and his brother Benjamin (June 8, 1832 – May 12, 1842) died three years later. Another brother, Pleasant (1828–1829), died at six months. Twain was born two weeks after the closest approach to Earth of Halley's Comet. On December 4, 1985, the United States Postal Service issued a stamped envelope for "Mark Twain and Halley's Comet."

When Twain was four, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, a port town on the Mississippi River that inspired the fictional town of St. Petersburg in ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' and ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn''. Missouri was a slave state and young Twain became familiar with the institution of slavery, a theme he would later explore in his writing.

Twain’s father was an attorney and a local judge. The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was organized in his office in 1846. The railroad connected the second and third largest cities in the state and was the westernmost United States railroad until the Transcontinental Railroad. It delivered mail to and from the Pony Express.

In March 1847, when Twain was 11, his father died of pneumonia. The next year, he became a printer's apprentice. In 1851, he began working as a typesetter and contributor of articles and humorous sketches for the ''Hannibal Journal'', a newspaper owned by his brother Orion. When he was 18, he left Hannibal and worked as a printer in New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. He joined the union and educated himself in public libraries in the evenings, finding wider information than at a conventional school. At 22, Twain returned to Missouri.

On a voyage to New Orleans down the Mississippi, steamboat pilot Horace E. Bixby inspired Twain to become a pilot himself. As Twain observed in ''Life on the Mississippi'', the pilot surpassed a steamboat's captain in prestige and authority; it was a rewarding occupation with wages set at $250 per month, roughly equivalent to $}} a year today. A steamboat pilot needed to know the ever-changing river to be able to stop at the hundreds of ports and wood-lots. Twain studied 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of the Mississippi for more than two years before he received his steamboat pilot license in 1859.

While training, Samuel convinced his younger brother Henry to work with him. Henry was killed on June 21, 1858, when the steamboat he was working on, the ''Pennsylvania'', exploded. Twain had foreseen this death in a dream a month earlier, which inspired his interest in parapsychology; he was an early member of the Society for Psychical Research. Twain was guilt-stricken and held himself responsible for the rest of his life. He continued to work on the river and was a river pilot until the American Civil War broke out in 1861 and traffic along the Mississippi was curtailed.

Missouri was considered by many to be part of the South, and was represented in both the Confederate and Federal governments during the Civil War. Twain wrote a sketch, "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed," which claimed he and his friends had been Confederate volunteers for two weeks before disbanding their company.

Travels

Twain joined Orion, who in 1861 became secretary to James W. Nye, the governor of Nevada Territory, and headed west. Twain and his brother traveled more than two weeks on a stagecoach across the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, visiting the Mormon community in Salt Lake City. The experiences inspired ''Roughing It'' and provided material for ''The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County''. Twain's journey ended in the silver-mining town of Virginia City, Nevada, where he became a miner. Twain failed as a miner and worked at a Virginia City newspaper, the ''Territorial Enterprise''. Here he first used his pen name. On February 3, 1863, he signed a humorous travel account ''"Letter From Carson – re: Joe Goodman; party at Gov. Johnson's; music"'' with "Mark Twain."

Twain moved to San Francisco, California in 1864, still as a journalist. He met writers such as Bret Harte, Artemus Ward, and Dan DeQuille. The young poet Ina Coolbrith may have romanced him.

His first success as a writer came when his humorous tall tale, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," was published in a New York weekly, ''The Saturday Press'', on November 18, 1865. It brought him national attention. A year later, he traveled to the Sandwich Islands (present-day Hawaii) as a reporter for the ''Sacramento Union''. His travelogues were popular and became the basis for his first lectures.

In 1867, a local newspaper funded a trip to the Mediterranean. During his tour of Europe and the Middle East, he wrote a popular collection of travel letters, which were later compiled as ''The Innocents Abroad'' in 1869. It was on this trip that he met his future brother-in-law.

Upon returning to the United States, Twain was offered honorary membership in the secret society Scroll and Key of Yale University in 1868. Its devotion to "fellowship, moral and literary self-improvement, and charity" suited him well.

Marriage and children

Charles Langdon showed a picture of his sister, Olivia, to Twain; Twain claimed to have fallen in love at first sight. The two corresponded throughout 1868, but Olivia rejected his first marriage proposal. Two months later, they were engaged and a year later married in February 1870 in Elmira, New York, where he had courted her. She came from a "wealthy but liberal family," and through her he met abolitionists, "socialists, principled atheists and activists for women's rights and social equality," including Harriet Beecher Stowe (his next door neighbor in Hartford, Connecticut), Frederick Douglass, and the writer and utopian socialist William Dean Howells, who became a longtime friend.

The couple lived in Buffalo, New York from 1869 to 1871. Twain owned a stake in the ''Buffalo Express'' newspaper, and worked as an editor and writer. While living in Buffalo, their son Langdon died of diphtheria at 19 months.

Olivia gave birth to three daughters: Susy (1872–1896), Clara (1874–1962) and Jean (1880–1909). The couple's marriage lasted 34 years, until Olivia's death in 1904. All of the Clemens family are buried in Elmira's Woodlawn Cemetery.

Twain moved his family to Hartford, Connecticut, where starting in 1873, he arranged the building of a home (local admirers saved it from demolition in 1927 and eventually turned it into a museum focused on him). In the 1870s and 1880s, Twain and his family summered at Quarry Farm, the home of Olivia' sister, Susan Crane. In 1874, Susan had a study built apart from the main house so that her brother-in-law would have a quiet place in which to write. Also, Twain smoked pipes constantly, and Susan Crane did not wish him to do so in her house. During his seventeen years in Hartford (1874–1891) and over twenty summers at Quarry Farm, Twain wrote many of his classic novels, among them ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876), ''The Prince and the Pauper'' (1881), ''Life on the Mississippi'' (1883), ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1885) and ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'' (1889).

Twain made a second tour of Europe, described in the 1880 book ''A Tramp Abroad''. His tour included a stay in Heidelberg from May 6 until July 23, 1878, and a visit to London.

Love of science and technology

Twain was fascinated with science and scientific inquiry. He developed a close and lasting friendship with Nikola Tesla, and the two spent much time together in Tesla's laboratory.

Twain patented three inventions, including an "Improvement in Adjustable and Detachable Straps for Garments" (to replace suspenders) and a history trivia game. Most commercially successful was a self-pasting scrapbook; a dried adhesive on the pages only needed to be moistened before use.

His book ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'' features a time traveler from contemporary America, using his knowledge of science to introduce modern technology to Arthurian England. This type of storyline would later become a common feature of a science fiction sub-genre, alternate history.

In 1909, Thomas Edison visited Twain at his home in Redding, Connecticut and filmed him. Part of the footage was used in ''The Prince and the Pauper'' (1909), a two-reel short film.

Financial troubles

Twain made a substantial amount of money through his writing, but he lost a great deal through investments, mostly in new inventions and technology, particularly the Paige typesetting machine. It was a beautifully engineered mechanical marvel that amazed viewers when it worked, but was prone to breakdowns. Twain spent $300,000 (equal to $}} today) on it between 1880 and 1894, but before it could be perfected, it was made obsolete by the Linotype. He lost not only the bulk of his book profits but also a substantial portion of his wife's inheritance.

Twain also lost money through his publishing house, which enjoyed initial success selling the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, but went broke soon after, losing money on a biography of Pope Leo XIII; fewer than two hundred copies were sold.

Twain's writings and lectures, combined with the help of a new friend, enabled him to recover financially. In 1893, he began a 15-year-long friendship with financier Henry Huttleston Rogers, a principal of Standard Oil. Rogers first made Twain file for bankruptcy. Then Rogers had Twain transfer the copyrights on his written works to his wife, Olivia, to prevent creditors from gaining possession of them. Finally, Rogers took absolute charge of Twain's money until all the creditors were paid.

Twain embarked on an around-the-world lecture tour in 1894 to pay off his creditors in full, although he was no longer under any legal obligation to do so. In mid-1900, he was the guest of newspaper proprietor Hugh Gilzean-Reid at Dollis Hill House. Twain wrote of Dollis Hill that he had "never seen any place that was so satisfactorily situated, with its noble trees and stretch of country, and everything that went to make life delightful, and all within a biscuit's throw of the metropolis of the world." He then returned to America in 1900, having earned enough to pay off his debts.

Speaking engagements

Twain was in demand as a featured speaker, and appeared before many men's clubs, including the Authors' Club, Beefsteak Club, Vagabonds, White Friars, and Monday Evening Club of Hartford. He was made an honorary member of the Bohemian Club in San Francisco. In the late 1890s, he spoke to the Savage Club in London and was elected honorary member. When told that only three men had been so honored, including the Prince of Wales, he replied "Well, it must make the Prince feel mighty fine." In 1897, Twain spoke to the Concordia Press Club in Vienna as a special guest, following diplomat Charlemagne Tower, Jr.. In German, to the great amusement of the assemblage, Twain delivered the speech "''Die Schrecken der deutschen Sprache''" ("The Horrors of the German Language").

Later life and death

Twain passed through a period of deep depression, which began in 1896 when his daughter Susy died of meningitis. Olivia's death in 1904 and Jean's on December 24, 1909, deepened his gloom. On May 20, 1909, his close friend Henry Rogers died suddenly. In 1906, Twain began his autobiography in the ''North American Review''. In April, Twain heard that his friend Ina Coolbrith had lost nearly all she owned in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and he volunteered a few autographed portrait photographs to be sold for her benefit. To further aid Coolbrith, George Wharton James visited Twain in New York and arranged for a new portrait session. Initially resistant, Twain admitted that four of the resulting images were the finest ones ever taken of him.

Twain formed a club in 1906 for girls he viewed as surrogate granddaughters, the Angel Fish and Aquarium Club. The dozen or so members ranged in age from 10 to 16. Twain exchanged letters with his "Angel Fish" girls and invited them to concerts and the theatre and to play games. Twain wrote in 1908 that the club was his "life's chief delight."

Oxford University awarded Twain an honorary doctorate in letters (D.Litt.) in 1907.

In 1909, Twain is quoted as saying:

His prediction was accurate – Twain died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, in Redding, Connecticut, one day after the comet's closest approach to Earth.

Upon hearing of Twain's death, President William Howard Taft said:

"Mark Twain gave pleasure – real intellectual enjoyment – to millions, and his works will continue to give such pleasure to millions yet to come... His humor was American, but he was nearly as much appreciated by Englishmen and people of other countries as by his own countrymen. He has made an enduring part of American literature."

Twain's funeral was at the "Old Brick" Presbyterian Church in New York. He is buried in his wife's family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York. His grave is marked by a 12-foot (i.e., two fathoms, or "mark twain") monument, placed there by his surviving daughter, Clara. There is also a smaller headstone.

Writing

Overview

Twain began his career writing light, humorous verse, but evolved into a chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies and murderous acts of mankind. At mid-career, with ''Huckleberry Finn'', he combined rich humor, sturdy narrative and social criticism. Twain was a master at rendering colloquial speech and helped to create and popularize a distinctive American literature built on American themes and language. Many of Twain's works have been suppressed at times for various reasons. ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' has been repeatedly restricted in American high schools, not least for its frequent use of the word "nigger," which was in common usage in the pre-Civil War period in which the novel was set.

A complete bibliography of his works is nearly impossible to compile because of the vast number of pieces written by Twain (often in obscure newspapers) and his use of several different pen names. Additionally, a large portion of his speeches and lectures have been lost or were not written down; thus, the collection of Twain's works is an ongoing process. Researchers rediscovered published material by Twain as recently as 1995.

Early journalism and travelogues

While writing for the Virginia City newspaper, the ''Territorial Enterprise'' in 1863, Clemens met lawyer Tom Fitch, editor of the competing newspaper ''Virginia Daily Union'' and known as the "silver-tongued orator of the Pacific." He credited Fitch with giving him his "first really profitable lesson" in writing. In 1866, Clemens presented his lecture on the Sandwich Islands to a crowd in Washoe City, Nevada. Clemens commented that, "When I first began to lecture, and in my earlier writings, my sole idea was to make comic capital out of everything I saw and heard." Fitch told him, "Clemens, your lecture was magnificent. It was eloquent, moving, sincere. Never in my entire life have I listened to such a magnificent piece of descriptive narration. But you committed one unpardonable sin—the unpardonable sin. It is a sin you must never commit again. You closed a most eloquent description, by which you had keyed your audience up to a pitch of the intensest interest, with a piece of atrocious anti-climax which nullified all the really fine effect you had produced."

Twain's first important work, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," was first published in the ''New York Saturday Press'' on November 18, 1865. The only reason it was published there was that his story arrived too late to be included in a book Artemus Ward was compiling featuring sketches of the wild American West.

After this burst of popularity, the ''Sacramento Union'' commissioned Twain to write letters about his travel experiences. The first journey he took for this job was to ride the steamer ''Ajax'' in its maiden voyage to Hawaii, referred to at the time as the Sandwich Islands. These humorous letters proved the genesis to his work with the San Francisco ''Alta California'' newspaper, which designated him a traveling correspondent for a trip from San Francisco to New York City via the Panama isthmus. All the while, Twain was writing letters meant for publishing back and forth, chronicling his experiences with his burlesque humor. On June 8, 1867, Twain set sail on the pleasure cruiser ''Quaker City'' for five months. This trip resulted in ''The Innocents Abroad or The New Pilgrims' Progress.''

In 1872, Twain published a second piece of travel literature, ''Roughing It'', as a semi-sequel to ''Innocents''. ''Roughing It'' is a semi-autobiographical account of Twain's journey to Nevada and his subsequent life in the American West. The book lampoons American and Western society in the same way that ''Innocents'' critiqued the various countries of Europe and the Middle East. Twain's next work kept ''Roughing It'''s focus on American society but focused more on the events of the day. Entitled ''The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today'', it was not a travel piece, as his previous two books had been, and it was his first attempt at writing a novel. The book is also notable because it is Twain's only collaboration; it was written with his neighbor Charles Dudley Warner.

Twain's next two works drew on his experiences on the Mississippi River. ''Old Times on the Mississippi'', a series of sketches published in the ''Atlantic Monthly'' in 1875, featured Twain’s disillusionment with Romanticism. ''Old Times'' eventually became the starting point for ''Life on the Mississippi.''

''Tom Sawyer'' and ''Huckleberry Finn''

Twain's next major publication was ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'', which drew on his youth in Hannibal. Tom Sawyer was modeled on Twain as a child, with traces of two schoolmates, John Briggs and Will Bowen. The book also introduced in a supporting role Huckleberry Finn, based on Twain's boyhood friend Tom Blankenship.

''The Prince and the Pauper'', despite a storyline that is omnipresent in film and literature today, was not as well received. Telling the story of two boys born on the same day who are physically identical, the book acts as a social commentary as the prince and pauper switch places. ''Pauper'' was Twain's first attempt at historical fiction, and blame for its shortcomings is usually put on Twain for having not been experienced enough in English society, and also on the fact that it was produced after a massive hit. In between the writing of ''Pauper,'' Twain had started ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (which he consistently had problems completing) and started and completed another travel book, ''A Tramp Abroad'', which follows Twain as he traveled through central and southern Europe.

Twain's next major published work, ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', solidified him as a noteworthy American writer. Some have called it the first Great American Novel, and the book has become required reading in many schools throughout the United States. ''Huckleberry Finn'' was an offshoot from ''Tom Sawyer'' and had a more serious tone than its predecessor. The main premise behind ''Huckleberry Finn'' is the young boy's belief in the right thing to do though most believed that it was wrong. Four hundred manuscript pages of ''Huckleberry Finn'' were written in mid-1876, right after the publication of ''Tom Sawyer.'' Some accounts have Twain taking seven years off after his first burst of creativity, eventually finishing the book in 1883. Other accounts have Twain working on ''Huckleberry Finn'' in tandem with ''The Prince and the Pauper'' and other works in 1880 and other years. The last fifth of ''Huckleberry Finn'' is subject to much controversy. Some say that Twain experienced, as critic Leo Marx puts it, a "failure of nerve." Ernest Hemingway once said of ''Huckleberry Finn'':

If you read it, you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating.

Hemingway also wrote in the same essay:

All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Near the completion of ''Huckleberry Finn,'' Twain wrote ''Life on the Mississippi,'' which is said to have heavily influenced the former book. The work recounts Twain's memories and new experiences after a 22-year absence from the Mississippi. In it, he also states that "Mark Twain" was the call made when the boat was in safe water – two fathoms ().

Later writing

After his great work, Twain began turning to his business endeavors to keep them afloat and to stave off the increasing difficulties he had been having from his writing projects. Twain focused on President Ulysses S. Grant's ''Memoirs'' for his fledgling publishing company, finding time in between to write "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed" for ''The Century Magazine''. This piece detailed his two-week stint in a Confederate militia during the Civil War. The name of his publishing company was ''Charles L. Webster & Company,'' which he owned with Charles L. Webster, his nephew by marriage.

Twain next focused on ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'', which featured him making his first big pronouncement of disappointment with politics. Written with the same "historical fiction" style of ''The Prince and the Pauper'', ''A Connecticut Yankee'' showed the absurdities of political and social norms by setting them in the court of King Arthur. The book was started in December 1885, then shelved a few months later until the summer of 1887, and eventually finished in the spring of 1889.

Twain had begun to furiously write articles and commentary with diminishing returns to pay the bills and keep his business projects afloat, but it was not enough. He filed for bankruptcy in 1894.

His next large-scale work, ''Pudd'nhead Wilson'', was written rapidly, as Twain was desperately trying to stave off the bankruptcy. From November 12 to December 14, 1893, Twain wrote 60,000 words for the novel. Critics have pointed to this rushed completion as the cause of the novel's rough organization and constant disruption of continuous plot. There were parallels between this work and Twain's financial failings, notably his desire to escape his current constraints and become a different person.

Like ''The Prince and the Pauper'', this novel also contains the tale of two boys born on the same day who switch positions in life. Considering the circumstances of Twain's birth and Halley's Comet, and his strong belief in the paranormal, it is not surprising that these "mystic" connections recur throughout his writing.

The actual title is not clearly established. It was first published serially in ''Century Magazine'', and when it was finally published in book form, ''Pudd'nhead Wilson'' appeared as the main title; however, the disputed "subtitles" make the entire title read: ''The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson and the Comedy of The Extraordinary Twins''.

Twain's next venture was a work of straight fiction that he called ''Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc'' and dedicated to his wife. Twain had long said that this was the work he was most proud of, despite the criticism he received for it. The book had been a dream of his since childhood. He claimed he had found a manuscript detailing the life of Joan of Arc when he was an adolescent. This was another piece Twain was convinced would save his publishing company. His financial adviser, Henry Huttleston Rogers, quashed that idea and got Twain out of that business altogether, but the book was published nonetheless.

During this time of dire financial straits, Twain published several literary reviews in newspapers to help make ends meet. He famously derided James Fenimore Cooper in his article detailing Cooper's "Literary Offenses." He became an extremely outspoken critic not only of other authors, but also of other critics, suggesting that before praising Cooper's work, Professors Loundsbury, Brander Matthes, and Wilkie Collins "ought to have read some of it."

Other authors to fall under Twain's attack during this time period (beginning around 1890 until his death) were George Eliot, Jane Austen, and Robert Louis Stevenson. In addition to providing a source for the "tooth and claw" style of literary criticism, Twain outlines in several letters and essays what he considers to be "quality writing." He places emphasis on concision, utility of word choice, and realism (he complains that Cooper's ''Deerslayer'' purports to be realistic but has several shortcomings). Ironically, several of his works were later criticized for lack of continuity (''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'') and organization (''Pudd'nhead Wilson'').

Twain's wife died in 1904 while the couple were staying at the Villa di Quarto in Florence, and after an appropriate time Twain allowed himself to publish some works that his wife, a ''de facto'' editor and censor throughout his life, had looked down upon. Of these works, ''The Mysterious Stranger'', depicting various visits of Satan to the Earth, is perhaps the best known. This particular work was not published in Twain's lifetime. There were three versions found in his manuscripts made between 1897 and 1905: the Hannibal, Eseldorf, and Print Shop versions. Confusion between the versions led to an extensive publication of a jumbled version, and only recently have the original versions as Twain wrote them become available.

Twain's last work was his autobiography, which he dictated and thought would be most entertaining if he went off on whims and tangents in non-chronological order. Some archivists and compilers have rearranged the biography into more conventional forms, thereby eliminating some of Twain's humor and the flow of the book. The first volume of autobiography, over 736 pages, was published by the University of California in November 2010, 100 years after his death as Twain wished. It soon became an unexpected best selling book, making Twain one of very few authors publishing new best-selling volumes in all 3 of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.

Friendship with Henry H. Rogers

While Twain credited Henry H. Rogers, a Standard Oil executive, with saving him from financial ruin, their close friendship in their later years was mutually beneficial. When Twain lost three of his four children and his beloved wife, the Rogers family increasingly became a surrogate family for him. He became a frequent guest at their townhouse in New York City, their 48-room summer home in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and aboard their steam yacht, the ''Kanawha''.

The two men introduced each other to their acquaintances. Twain was an admirer of the remarkable deafblind girl Helen Keller. He first met Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan at a party in the home of Laurence Hutton in New York City in the winter of 1894. Twain introduced them to Rogers, who, with his wife, paid for Keller's education at Radcliffe College. Twain is credited with labeling Sullivan, Keller's governess and companion, a "miracle worker." His choice of words later became inspiration for the title of William Gibson's play and film adaptation, ''The Miracle Worker''. Twain also introduced Rogers to journalist Ida M. Tarbell, who interviewed him for a muckraking expose that led indirectly to the breakup of the Standard Oil Trust. On cruises aboard the ''Kanawha'', Twain and Rogers were joined at frequent intervals by Booker T. Washington, the famed former slave who had become a leading educator.

While the two famous old men were widely regarded as drinking and poker buddies, they also exchanged letters when apart, and this was often since each traveled a great deal. Unlike Rogers' personal files, which have never become public, these insightful letters were published. The written exchanges between the two men demonstrate Twain's well-known sense of humor and, more surprisingly, Rogers' sense of fun, providing a rare insight into the private side of the robber baron.

In April 1907, Twain and Rogers cruised to the opening of the Jamestown Exposition in Virginia. Twain's public popularity was such that many fans took boats out to the ''Kanawha'' at anchor in hopes of getting a glimpse of him. As the gathering of boats around the yacht became a safety hazard, he finally obliged by coming on deck and waving to the crowds.

Because of poor weather conditions, the steam yacht was delayed for several days from venturing into the Atlantic Ocean. Rogers and some of the others in his party returned to New York by rail; Twain disliked train travel and so elected to wait and return on the ''Kanawha''. However, reporters lost track of his whereabouts; when he failed to return to New York City as scheduled, ''The New York Times'' speculated that he might have been "lost at sea." Upon arriving safely in New York and learning of this, the humorist wrote a satirical article about the episode, offering to "...make an exhaustive investigation of this report that I have been lost at sea. If there is any foundation for the report, I will at once apprise the anxious public." This bore similarities to an earlier event in 1897 when he made his famous remark "The report of my death was an exaggeration," after a reporter was sent to investigate whether he had died. In fact, it was his cousin who was seriously ill.

Later that year, Twain and Rogers's son, Henry Jr., returned to the Jamestown Exposition aboard the ''Kanawha''. The humorist helped host Robert Fulton Day on September 23, 1907, celebrating the centennial of Fulton's invention of the steamboat. Twain, filling in for ailing former U.S. President Grover Cleveland, introduced Rear Admiral Purnell Harrington. Twain was met with a five-minute standing ovation; members of the audience cheered and waved their hats and umbrellas. Deeply touched, Twain said, "When you appeal to my head, I don't feel it; but when you appeal to my heart, I do feel it."

In April 1909, the two old friends returned to Norfolk, Virginia for the banquet in honor of Rogers and his newly completed Virginian Railway. Twain was the keynote speaker in one of his last public appearances, and was widely quoted in newspapers across the country.

A month later, Twain was ''en route'' from Connecticut to visit his friend in New York City when Rogers died suddenly on May 20, 1909. Twain arrived at Grand Central Station to be met by his daughter with the news. Stricken with grief, he uncustomarily avoided news reporters who had gathered, saying only "This is terrible...I cannot talk about it." Two days later, he served as an honorary pallbearer at the funeral in New York City. However, he declined to join the funeral party on the train ride for the interment at Fairhaven. He said "I cannot bear to travel with my friend and not converse."

Views

Twain's views became more radical as he grew older. He acknowledged that his views changed and developed over his life, referring to one of his favorite works:

Anti-imperialist

In the ''New York Herald'', October 15, 1900, he describes his transformation and political awakening, in the context of the Philippine-American War, from being "a red-hot imperialist":

Before 1899 Twain was an ardent imperialist. In the late 1860s and early 1870s he spoke out strongly in favor of American interests in the Hawaiian Islands. In the mid-1890s he explained later, he was "a red-hot imperialist. I wanted the American eagle to go screaming over the Pacific." He said the war with Spain in 1898 was "the worthiest" war ever fought. In 1899 he reversed course, and from 1901, soon after his return from Europe, until his death in 1910, Twain was vice-president of the American Anti-Imperialist League, which opposed the annexation of the Philippines by the United States and had "tens of thousands of members." He wrote many political pamphlets for the organization. The ''Incident in the Philippines'', posthumously published in 1924, was in response to the Moro Crater Massacre, in which six hundred Moros were killed. Many of his neglected and previously uncollected writings on anti-imperialism appeared for the first time in book form in 1992.

Twain was critical of imperialism in other countries as well. In ''Following the Equator'', Twain expresses "hatred and condemnation of imperialism of all stripes." He was highly critical of European imperialism, notably of Cecil Rhodes, who greatly expanded the British Empire, and of Leopold II, King of the Belgians. ''King Leopold's Soliloquy'' is a stinging political satire about his private colony, the Congo Free State. Reports of outrageous exploitation and grotesque abuses led to widespread international protest in the early 1900s, arguably the first large-scale human rights movement. In the soliloquy, the King argues that bringing Christianity to the country outweighs a little starvation. Leopold's rubber gatherers were tortured, maimed and slaughtered until the turn of the century, when the conscience of the Western world forced Brussels to call a halt.

During the Philippine-American War, Twain wrote a short pacifist story entitled ''The War Prayer'', which makes the point that humanism and Christianity's preaching of love are incompatible with the conduct of war. It was submitted to ''Harper's Bazaar'' for publication, but on March 22, 1905 the magazine rejected the story as "not quite suited to a woman's magazine." Eight days later, Twain wrote to his friend Daniel Carter Beard, to whom he had read the story, "I don't think the prayer will be published in my time. None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth." Because he had an exclusive contract with Harper & Brothers, Twain could not publish ''The War Prayer'' elsewhere; it remained unpublished until 1923. It was republished as campaigning material by Vietnam War protesters.

Twain acknowledged he originally sympathized with the more moderate Girondins of the French Revolution and then shifted his sympathies to the more radical Sansculottes, indeed identifying as "a Marat." Twain supported the revolutionaries in Russia against the reformists, arguing that the Tsar must be got rid of, by violent means, because peaceful ones would not work. He summed up his views of revolutions in the following statement:

Civil rights

Twain was an adamant supporter of abolition and emancipation, even going so far to say “Lincoln's Proclamation ... not only set the black slaves free, but set the white man free also.” He argued that non-whites did not receive justice in the United States, once saying “I have seen Chinamen abused and maltreated in all the mean, cowardly ways possible to the invention of a degraded nature....but I never saw a Chinaman righted in a court of justice for wrongs thus done to him.” He paid for at least one black person to attend Yale University Law School and for another black person to attend a southern university to become a minister.

Mark Twain was a staunch supporter of women's rights and an active campaigner for women's suffrage. His "Votes for Women" speech, in which he pressed for the granting of voting rights to women, is considered one of the most famous in history.

Helen Keller benefited from Twain's support, as she pursued her college education and publishing, despite her disabilities and financial limitations.

Twain's views on race were not reflected in his early sketches of Native Americans. Of them, Twain wrote in 1870:

As counterpoint, Twain's essay on "The Literary Offenses of Fenimore Cooper" offers a much kinder view of Indians. "No, other Indians would have noticed these things, but Cooper's Indians never notice anything. Cooper thinks they are marvelous creatures for noticing, but he was almost always in error about his Indians. There was seldom a sane one among them." In his later travelogue ''Following the Equator'' (1897), Twain observes that in colonized lands all over the world, "savages" have always been wronged by "whites" in the most merciless ways, such as "robbery, humiliation, and slow, slow murder, through poverty and the white man's whiskey"; his conclusion is that "there are many humorous things in this world; among them the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages."

Labor

Twain wrote glowingly about unions in the riverboating industry in ''Life on the Mississippi'', which was read in union halls decades later. He supported the labor movement, especially one of the most important unions, the Knights of Labor. In a speech to them, he said:

Vivisection

Twain was opposed to the vivisection practices of his day. His objection was not on a scientific basis but rather an ethical one. He specifically cited the pain caused to the animal as his basis of his opposition.

I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't. ... The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further.

Religion

Although Twain was a Presbyterian, he was sometimes critical of organized religion and certain elements of Christianity through his later life. He wrote, for example, "Faith is believing what you know ain't so," and "If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be – a Christian." Nonetheless, as a mature adult he engaged in religious discussions and attended services, his theology developing as he wrestled with the deaths of loved ones and his own mortality. His own experiences and suffering of his family made him particularly critical of "faith healing," such as espoused by Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science. His more inflammatory work on religion require a nuanced understanding of his theological arguments and criticism.

Twain generally avoided publishing his most heretical opinions on religion in his lifetime, and they are known from essays and stories that were published later. In the essay ''Three Statements of the Eighties'' in the 1880s, Twain stated that he believed in an almighty God, but not in any messages, revelations, holy scriptures such as the Bible, Providence, or retribution in the afterlife. He did state that "the goodness, the justice, and the mercy of God are manifested in His works," but also that "the universe is governed by strict and immutable laws," which determine "small matters," such as who dies in a pestilence. At other times he wrote or spoke in ways that contradicted a strict deist view, for example, plainly professing a belief in Providence. In some later writings in the 1890s, he was less optimistic about the goodness of God, observing that "if our Maker ''is'' all-powerful for good or evil, He is not in His right mind." At other times, he conjectured sardonically that perhaps God had created the world with all its tortures for some purpose of His own, but was otherwise indifferent to humanity, which was too petty and insignificant to deserve His attention anyway.

In 1901 Twain criticized the actions of missionary Dr. William Scott Ament (1851–1909) because Ament and other missionaries had collected indemnities from Chinese subjects in the aftermath of the Boxer Uprising of 1900. Twain's response to hearing of Ament's methods was published in the ''North American Review'' in February 1901: ''To the Person Sitting in Darkness'', and deals with examples of imperialism in China, South Africa, and with the U.S. occupation of the Philippines. A subsequent article, "To My Missionary Critics" published in ''The North American Review'' in April 1901, unapologetically continues his attack, but with the focus shifted from Ament to his missionary superiors, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

After his death, Twain's family suppressed some of his work that was especially irreverent toward conventional religion, notably ''Letters from the Earth'', which was not published until his daughter Clara reversed her position in 1962 in response to Soviet propaganda about the withholding. The anti-religious ''The Mysterious Stranger'' was published in 1916. ''Little Bessie'', a story ridiculing Christianity, was first published in the 1972 collection ''Mark Twain's Fables of Man''.

Despite these views, he raised money to build a Presbyterian Church in Nevada in 1864, although it has been argued that it was only by his association with his Presbyterian brother that he did that.

Twain created a reverent portrayal of Joan of Arc, a subject over which he had obsessed for forty years, studied for a dozen years and spent two years writing. In 1900 and again in 1908, he stated, "I like ''Joan of Arc'' best of all my books, it is the best."

Those who knew Twain well late in life recount that he dwelt on the subject of the afterlife, his daughter Clara saying: "Sometimes he believed death ended everything, but most of the time he felt sure of a life beyond."

Mark Twain's frankest views on religion appeared in his final Autobiography, which was published 100 years after his death, in November 2010. In it, he said,

Twain was a Freemason. He belonged to Polar Star Lodge No. 79 A.F.&A.M.;, based in St. Louis. He was initiated an Entered Apprentice on May 22, 1861, passed to the degree of Fellow Craft on June 12, and raised to the degree of Master Mason on July 10.

Legacy

Twain's legacy lives on today as his namesakes continue to multiply. Several schools are named after him, including Mark Twain Elementary School in Houston, Texas, which has a statue of Twain sitting on a bench, and Mark Twain Intermediate School in New York. There are several schools named Mark Twain Middle School in different states, as well as Samuel Clemens High School in Schertz, near San Antonio, Texas. There are also other structures, such as the Mark Twain Memorial Bridge.

Mark Twain Village is a United States Army installation located in the Südstadt district of Heidelberg, Germany. It is one of two American bases in the United States Army Garrison Heidelberg that house American soldiers and their families (the other being Patrick Henry Village).

Awards in his name proliferate. In 1998, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts created the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, awarded annually. The Mark Twain Award is an award given annually to a book for children in grades four through eight by the Missouri Association of School Librarians. Stetson University in DeLand, Florida sponsors the Mark Twain Young Authors' Workshop each summer in collaboration with the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal. The program is open to young authors in grades five through eight. The museum sponsors the Mark Twain Creative Teaching Award.

Buildings associated with Twain, including some of his many homes, have been preserved as museums. His birthplace is preserved in Florida, Missouri. The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal, Missouri preserves the setting for some of the author's best known work. The home of childhood friend Laura Hawkins, said to be the inspiration for his fictional character Becky Thatcher, is preserved as the "Thatcher House." In May 2007, a painstaking reconstruction of the home of Tom Blankenship, the inspiration for Huckleberry Finn, was opened to the public. The family home he had built in Hartford, Connecticut, where he and his wife raised their three daughters, is preserved and open to visitors as the Mark Twain House.

Actor Hal Holbrook created a one-man show called ''Mark Twain Tonight'', which he has performed regularly for about years. The broadcast by CBS in 1967 won him an Emmy Award. Of the three runs on Broadway (1966, 1977, and 2005), the first won him a Tony Award.

Additionally, like many influential individuals, Twain was honored by having an asteroid, 2362 Mark Twain, named after him.

Often, Twain is depicted in pop culture as wearing a white suit. While there is evidence that suggests that, after Livy's death in 1904, Twain began wearing white suits on the lecture circuit, modern representations suggesting that he wore them throughout his life are unfounded. However, there is evidence of him wearing a white suit before 1904. In 1882, he sent a photograph of himself in a white suit to 18-year-old Edward W. Bok, later publisher of the "Ladies Home Journal," with a handwritten dated note on verso. It did eventually become his trademark, as illustrated in anecdotes about this eccentricity (such as the time he wore a white summer suit to a Congressional hearing during the winter). McMasters' "Mark Twain Encyclopedia" states that Twain did not wear a white suit in his last three years, except at one banquet speech. In 2011, the US Postal Service plans to release another stamp in his honor.

Pen names

Twain used different pen names before deciding on ''Mark Twain''. He signed humorous and imaginative sketches ''Josh'' until 1863. Additionally, he used the pen name ''Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass'' for a series of humorous letters.

He maintained that his primary pen name came from his years working on Mississippi riverboats, where two fathoms, a depth indicating safe water for passage of boat, was measured on the sounding line. A fathom is a maritime unit of depth, equivalent to two yards (1.8 m); ''twain'' is an archaic term for "two." The riverboatman's cry was ''mark twain'' or, more fully, ''by the mark twain'', meaning "according to the mark [on the line], [the depth is] two [fathoms]," that is, "The water is deep and it is safe to pass."

Twain claimed that his famous pen name was not entirely his invention. In ''Life on the Mississippi'', he wrote:

Captain Isaiah Sellers was not of literary turn or capacity, but he used to jot down brief paragraphs of plain practical information about the river, and sign them "MARK TWAIN," and give them to the ''New Orleans Picayune''. They related to the stage and condition of the river, and were accurate and valuable; ... At the time that the telegraph brought the news of his death, I was on the Pacific coast. I was a fresh new journalist, and needed a nom de guerre; so I confiscated the ancient mariner's discarded one, and have done my best to make it remain what it was in his hands – a sign and symbol and warrant that whatever is found in its company may be gambled on as being the petrified truth; how I have succeeded, it would not be modest in me to say.

Twain's version of the story about his pen name has been questioned by biographer George Williams III, the ''Territorial Enterprise'' newspaper, and Purdue University's Paul Fatout. which claim that ''mark twain'' refers to a running bar tab that Twain would regularly incur while drinking at John Piper's saloon in Virginia City, Nevada.

Bibliography

See also

American realism

''Christian Science (essay)

Bernard DeVoto (historian)

List of premature obituaries

''Mark Twain's Library of Humor'' (anthology)

Regionalism (literature)

''Warsaw Signal'' (newspaper)

References

Further reading

Lucius Beebe. ''Comstock Commotion: The Story of the Territorial Enterprise and Virginia City News.'' Stanford University Press, 1954 ISBN 112218798X

Louis J. Budd, ed. ''Mark Twain, Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches & Essays 1891–1910'' (Library of America, 1992) (ISBN 978-0-94045073-8)

Ken Burns, Dayton Duncan, and Geoffrey C. Ward, ''Mark Twain: An Illustrated Biography.'' New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001 (ISBN 0-3754-0561-5)

Gregg Camfield. ''The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 2002 (ISBN 0-1951-0710-1)

Guy Cardwell, ed. ''Mark Twain, Mississippi Writings'' (Library of America, 1982) (ISBN 978-0-94045007-3)

Guy Cardwell, ed. ''Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad & Roughing It'' (Library of America, 1984) ISBN 978-0-94045025-7

James M. Cox. ''Mark Twain: The Fate of Humor.'' Princeton University Press, 1966 (ISBN 0-8262-1428-2)

Everett Emerson. ''Mark Twain: A Literary Life.'' Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000 (ISBN 0-8122-3516-9)

Shelley Fisher Fishkin, ed. ''A Historical Guide to Mark Twain.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 2002 (ISBN 0-1951-3293-9)

Susan K. Harris, ed. ''Mark Twain, Historical Romances'' (Library of America, 1994) (ISBN 978-0-94045082-0)

Hamlin L. Hill, ed. ''Mark Twain, The Gilded Age and Later Novels'' (Library of America, 2002) ISBN 978-1-93108210-5

Jason Gary Horn. ''Mark Twain: A Descriptive Guide to Biographical Sources.'' Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1999 (ISBN 0-8108-3630-0)

William Dean Howells. ''My Mark Twain.'' Mineloa, New York: Dover Publications, 1997 (ISBN 0-486-29640-7)

Fred Kaplan. ''The Singular Mark Twain: A Biography.'' New York: Doubleday, 2003 (ISBN 0-3854-7715-5)

Justin Kaplan. ''Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain: A Biography.'' New York: Simon and Schuster, 1966 (ISBN 0-6717-4807-6)

J. R. LeMaster and James D. Wilson, eds. ''The Mark Twain Encyclopedia.'' New York: Garland, 1993 (ISBN 0-8240-7212-X)

Jerome Loving, ''Mark Twain: The Adventures of Samuel L. Clemens'' (University of California Press; 2010) 491 pages, ISBN 9780520252578; Draws on newly discovered archival materials in a detailed biography

Bruce Michelson. ''Mark Twain on the Loose.'' Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1995 (ISBN 0-8702-3967-8)

K. Patrick Ober. ''Mark Twain and Medicine: "Any Mummery Will Cure."'' Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2003 (ISBN 0-8262-1502-5)

Albert Bigelow Paine. ''Mark Twain, A Biography: The Personal and Literary Life of Samuel Langhorne Clemens.'' Harper & Bros., 1912. ISBN 1847029833

Ron Powers. ''Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain.'' New York: Da Capo Press, 1999. ISBN 0306810867

Ron Powers. ''Mark Twain: A Life.'' New York: Random House, 2005. (0-7432-4899-6)

R. Kent Rasmussen. ''Critical Companion to Mark Twain: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work.'' Facts On File, 2007. Revised edition of ''Mark Twain A to Z'' ISBN 0816062250

R. Kent Rasmussen, ed. ''The Quotable Mark Twain: His Essential Aphorisms, Witticisms and Concise Opinions.'' Contemporary Books, 1997 ISBN 0809229870

External links

;Works by Mark Twain

Mark Twain Classics - Twain's Speeches, Essays, Stories, and Quotes.

Mark Twain Project Online

38 Facsimile copies of 1st editions

. More than 60 texts are freely available.

''Mark Twain's letters'' ed. by Albert Bigelow Paine (2 vol 1917) vol 2 online

Mark Twain Library, University of California Press. This series re-prints texts from the Papers and Works for students and the general reader.

The Works of Mark Twain, University of California Press. This series prints authoritative critical editions of Mark Twain's published works.

Mark Twain Papers, University of California Press. This series publishes Mark Twain's private papers–his letters, notebooks, unpublished literary works, and autobiography.

Jumping Frogs: Undiscovered, Rediscovered, and Celebrated Writings of Mark Twain, University of California Press. The Jumping Frogs series of books brings neglected Mark Twain treasures—stories, tall tales, novels, travelogues, plays, imaginative journalism, speeches, sketches, satires, burlesques, and much more—to readers.

A True Story, Repeated Word for Word As I Heard It. From The Atlantic Monthly. Nov. 1874: 591–594. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Co., November 1874. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Co., November 1874.

;Academic studies

The Mark Twain Papers and Project of the Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley. Home to the largest archive of Mark Twain's papers and the editors of a critical edition of all of his writings.

Buffalo Library Mark Twain Room, which houses the manuscript of ''Huckleberry Finn''

Mark Twain Collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin

;Life

Full text of the biography ''Mark Twain'' by Archibald Henderson

Obituary in San Francisco Call

Mark Twain's Mississippi at Northern Illinois University Libraries

;Other

Literary Pilgrimages – Mark Twain sites

PBS Twain Interactive Scrapbook and San Francisco Chronicle article documenting that Clemens did not say "The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco."

The Fountain Pens used by Mark Twain

Images of First Appearances of Mark Twain Works

article and rare pictures of Mark Twain and photographer Napoleon Sarony

Google map with placemarks for places in America associated with Twain

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Coordinates	35°27′″N139°38′″N
name	Nancy Ajram
birth name	Nancy Nabil Ajram
background	solo_singer
birth date	May 16, 1983
origin	Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
genre	Arabic Pop, World, pop
occupation	singer, dancer, model, actress
years active	1998–present
label	EMI Arabia (1998) Megastar (2001–2005) In2Musica (2008–present)
website	Official website }}

Nancy Nabil Ajram (}}) (born May 16, 1983) is a multi-platinum Lebanese singer and Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. With the support of her father, Nancy began performing as a child and released her first studio album by the age of 15. Her breakthrough occurred with the start of her collaboration with well-known producer Jiji Lamara, when she released her smash-hit "Akhasmak Ah" and 3rd studio album, Ya Salam. In 2004, she released her second international best-seller "Ah w Noss", which spawned several smash-hits, "Ah w Noss", "Lawn Ouyounak", and "Inta Eih" at which point Nancy had established pop icon status in the Middle East.

By 2007, Ajram had sold over 30 million records ranking 3rd best selling female artist in Lebanese history. Her 2008 album "Bitfakkar Fi Eih" spawned seven singles and won Nancy's first World Music Award as Best-selling Middle Eastern Artist, the youngest Arab WMA winner to date. She has released seven studio albums to date and numerous other chart-topping singles such as "Sehr Ouyouno", "Atabtab", "Moegaba", "Ehsas Jdeed", "El Donya Helwa", "Mashi Haddi", and "Fi Hagat".

Nancy Ajram is the first and only female sponsor and spokesperson of Coca-Cola in the Middle East and Arab world. Considered by many as an Arabic music icon of the decade, Nancy was described on the Oprah Winfrey Show as one of the most influential personalities of the Middle East. Nancy has made the list of Most Powerful Arabs on Arabian Business several times, and was similarly listed by Newsweek as one of the most influential Arabs. Nancy's official Facebook page is the most subscribed Arabic artist page on the social-networking site and the first to reach 1 million subscribers, and her music video for "Fi Hagat" was an Internet phenomenon and is currently the most viewed Arabic music video on the Internet, with more than 20 million views on Youtube.

Early life and beginnings

Ajram was born to father Nabil Ajram and mother Raymonda Aoun, on May 16, 1983 in Achrafieh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon.

In 1995, at the age of twelve, Nancy Ajram took part in a variety show, ''Noujoum Al-Moustakbal'', ("Stars of the Future"), a Lebanese reality television competition, which finds new solo musical talent. Ajram won a gold medal in the Tarab category after singing a song by Umm Kulthum.

Ajram studied music with renowned Lebanese musicians and despite being less than 18 years old at the time, the syndicate of professional artists in Lebanon accepted her as a member. Her first singles were titled "Hobbak Allam Albi elGheere" by Abdo Mounzer, and "Oulha Kelma Ala Shani". At the age of 15, she released her first album, ''Mihtagalak'' ("I Need You') in 1998. It was followed by ''Sheel Oyoonak Anni'' ("Stop Staring") in 2000, which achieved more success.

Music career

2002-2004: ''Akhasmak Ah''

Ajram's breakthrough was when she began working with Jiji Lamara, an experienced producer and manager. In early 2003, Ajram rose to instant fame with the success of the lead single "Akhasmak Ah" and the release of her third studio album, ''Ya Salam'' ("Oh Wow") which was a best-seller. The music video of "Akhasmak Ah" caused a controversy; reminiscent of older Arabic films, Nancy appeared as a cafe manager who dances and flirts with its customers. The release of the next music videos, "Ya Salam" and "Sehr Ouyouno" quietened down criticism as they better introduced Nancy's vocal abilities and style to the public.

2004-2006:''Ah w Noss'', Coca-Cola

Her fourth album, ''Ah w Noss'' ("Yes, and a half"), was released on April 12, 2004, and it was also an important marking point in Nancy's career. The tremendous success that "Ah w Noss" achieved, stabilized Nancy's position as an A-List star in the Arab music industry. Nancy then filmed "Lawn Ouyounak" (Color of Your Eyes), which portrayed Nancy as a bride in a traditional Lebanese wedding. After the release of the album, Nancy Ajram signed-up with Coca-Cola to be their official celebrity spokesperson for the Levant, Arabia and North Africa regions. Her first Coke commercial featured her hit, "Oul Tany Kida?" (Say That Again?), which was filmed with the international Italian director Luca Tomassini. The commercial's success lead to it being filmed as a music video behind the scenes of the commercial. The 4th hit single from the album, "Inta Eih?" (What Are You?), was a slow directed by Samir Sfeir. Nadine Labaki directed another clip that featured Nancy as a wife who sees her husband cheating on her yet she hides it in torment to save their relationship. The music video received tremendous positive reviews and Nancy was greatly praised. Leading Egyptian actors and directors, like Faten Hamama praised Nancy's acting abilities and movie offers doubled for Nancy. Nancy also opened for Enrique Iglesias's first concert in Egypt in 2004.

2006-2008:''Ya Tabtab Wa Dalla'', ''Shakhbat'', ''El Donya Helwa''

Her fifth album, ''Ya Tabtab Wa Dallaa'' was released on February 15, 2006. ''Atabtab'' was considered Nancy's best album to date, with six music videos released, eight radio hits, and five songs used for commercials.

The title song's video was Nancy's last video directed by Nadine Labaki, as she then started working on her movie Caramel. Nancy then released the video of her Coca-Cola hit "Moegaba" (Admirer), as well as a video and commercial for her newly signed ''Damas Jewelry'' contract advertising their "Farfasha" set. The song used was ''Ana Yalli'' which was promoted before the album's release. Nancy then cooperated for the first time with prominent Lebanese director Said el Marouk, filming ''"Ehsas Jdeed"'' (A New Feeling) which is widely considered to be the most successful song of the album. The video, which was a salute from Said to his deaf and mute parents, depicted the story of a rich woman who falls in love with a deaf and mute man. Later in 2007, Nancy released all together the video of "Elli Kan" (All That Was) for Damas's second campaign, her Coca-Cola Side of Life commercial featuring a new single "''El Donya Helwa''" (Life is Beautiful), and a video and album directed towards children, titled ''Shakhbat Shakhabit'' (Scribbled Scribbles). "El Donya Helwa", Nancy's 7th commercial, is considered one of her most successful commercials representing her style and Coca-Cola's with colors, happiness, and music, and it led her to release a Live album featuring the single.

Ajram's sixth album was fully dedicated to children with a variety of songs aimed towards teaching children good values and morals, something she has wanted to do for a long time. The music video was her second cooperation with Said El Marouk and featured four songs from her album, the most successful of which were "Shakhbat Shakhabit" & "Shater Shater". Nancy performed these songs at several fund-raising events for children and other children's events, such as the children's TV channel MBC3, and the children's entertainment TV Show "Star Zghar". She then filmed with Fadi Haddad, the director of photography of her previous works with ElMarouk, a video for the song "''Resala Ilal Aalam''" (A Message to the World) which talks about world peace. The video was released on May 25, 2008, the day the Lebanese president General Michel Suleiman was elected ending a deadlock that lasted since November. It was the first video for Nancy that had an entirely graphical world that implied the suffering of children worldwide and the need to bring out a more colorful and happy world for them. Old rumors claimed that the video was presented to the UNICEF. In 2007, Nancy performed alongside Lionel Richie in Egypt at a launching event.

2008–2010: ''Betfakkar Fi Eih'', WMA, Oprah, UNICEF & motherhood

In February and March 2008, Nancy released three Coca-Cola commercials that featured a brand new hit from her long awaited album. The song, "''Meen Gheyri Ana'' (Noss elKawn)" (Who Else?) was made by the successful ''Yey'' and ''Ana Yalli'' trio (Nizar Francis, Samir Sfeir, and Tarek Madkour). The single was an instant hit and served as a highly successful promotion 5 months before the release of the album. Nancy released her seventh studio album after several delays on July 30, 2008, which has been highly anticipated by fans for almost three years. This long awaited comeback album held lots of surprises for her fans with a huge change in her style that presented her matured vocal abilities like never before. Nancy's 7th album, Betfakkar Fi Eih?!, is considered to be one of her most successful albums so far as it won her first World Music Award in her career. The album included her first "Tarab" song called "Biteegy Sirtak" since 1998's Mihtagalak album, and in general had a wide mix of several different styles ranging from dance, beat, pop, to drama, romance, Tarab and oldies. Even though the hit video had mixed opinions, the second video of "Min Dally Nseek" was much more accepted, peaking at #1 for seven consecutive weeks in Melody Hits. The same musical trio who created "Ehsas Jdeed" did one of the instant radio-hits of the album, "''Lamset Eed''" (Touch of a Hand), which was filmed with Leila Kenaan with a high budget, and the song and music video peaked charts for months. With this album Nancy signed a celebrity endorsement deal with Sony Ericsson, as a special w595 phone was released holding Nancy's signature, and ''Wana Ben Idek'' was chosen as the commercial song.

On November 9, 2008, about a month after her marriage, Nancy Ajram won her first World Music Award for her best-selling album Betfakkar Fi Eih. In her short speech, Nancy thanked her parents, Jiji Lamara, her fans and album makers, and husband, saying "2008 has been a fantastic year - a successful album, my wedding, and now a World Music Award, what can I ask for more?"

On September 28, 2009, the Oprah Winfrey Show aired an episode titled "Fame Around the World" that talked about the most famous celebrities around the globe in brief reports. Representing the Middle East region and Arab world, Nancy Ajram appeared in a report featured on the show and was described by Oprah as "the Britney Spears of the Middle East". Nancy Ajram is the first and only Middle-Eastern artist ever mentioned on the show.

2010–present: World Cup, ''N°7''

In the summer of 2010, Nancy was nominated by Coca-Cola Middle East to sing, along with K'naan, his international hit and song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, "Wavin' Flag". The Arabic version, titled "Shaggaa Be Alamak" and directed to the Middle East region, had its Arabic parts written by Ayman Bahgat Amar (who previously wrote Ah w Noss, Atabtab, Eftah Albak for Nancy) and the music remastered by Tarek Madkour. The original music video was used for K'naan's parts while Nancy's parts were filmed separately in Lebanon on the same protocol under Leila Kenaan's co-direction. Both the video and song were aired heavily during the FIFA season and part of the song was particularly played during commercial breaks on Al-Jazeera channel, which exclusively aired the games to the Arab world.

On August 30, 2010, Nancy's official Facebook page posted a 16-second preview of the music video for Nancy's next single, "Fi Hagat". The preview shows Nancy wearing her makeup and getting in the car on a rainy day. Later, it was announced that Nadine Labaki directed the video, thus making her comeback to music video direction after her 4-year break. The video is also the first collaboration between Ajram and Labaki since 2006's "Atabtab." The full music video premiered on September 6, 2010 at 8:00PM on Arabica TV and MTV Lebanon. As of January 2011, within four months, the video hit more than 10 million views and thus became the first and most viewed Arabic music video on the Internet.

The album became a massive critical and commercial success, selling over a million units a month after its release and gathering many positive reviews from critics, who favored Nancy's classy style and the variety of musical genres she offers on the album.

In November, 2010, Nancy's Facebook page hit one million fans, becoming the most subscribed Arabic Facebook page on the site. Nancy expressed how thankful she was and promised her followers to add news and updates to the page. Later, the page announced "Sheikh El Shabab" and "Ya Kether" as the second and third singles from ''7'', respectively. The video for the second single premiered on December 23, and received favorable reviews from Arabic media, however, it did not achieve the same explosive rate of Internet views as did the first single "Fi Hagat", with only 750,000 views in a month.

The album marks a shift in Ajram's career and launches her to a more international image, and is, to date, her second fastest selling album.

Personal life

In September 2008, Nancy wed Dr. Fadi El Hachem in Cyprus after a three-year relationship; the wedding ceremony, in Lebanon, was attended mainly by close friends and family and was only made based on their request. Nancy continued her work during pregnancy, during which she filmed "Min Dally Nseek", "Lamset Eed" and her first Sony Ericsson commercial. She also participated in several concerts, such as Layali Febrayer and received her World Music Award.

On May 16, 2009, Nancy gave birth to her first child, a daughter she named "Mila." Short for ''Milagrosa'' (''miraculous'' in Spanish), Mila is also a traditional, Levantine name popular in rural Lebanon and meaning a "blooming tree". However, Nancy revealed that the name was Fadi's choice inspired by the Ukraine-born US actress, Milla Jovovich. Nancy released a song for her daughter, "Ya Rab Tekbar Mila" (I Pray that Mila Grows Up) on the same day. In a survey done by ''Rotana Magazine'', Nancy was voted as the "Most Beautiful Mom" of 2009. Nancy chose not to reveal photos of her daughter Mila until they both appeared on the cover of "Prestige" magazine in an exclusive photoshoot. Mila later appeared in the set of Nancy's music video "Ya Kether" in the presence of the media who publicized her pictures.

In October 2010, a month after the release of her seventh studio album, Nancy announced that she was four months pregnant with her second child, a girl. During that period she had filmed "Sheikh El Shabab" and "Ya Kether" consecutively to be released during her pregnancy period. Nancy Ajram revealed on Mothers day special on MTV that she decided to name her daughter Ella. Ella was born on 23 April 2011.

Awards and titles

1995 Nojoom Al Mustaqbal Golden Award - (Ajram's most significant pre-stardom award)

2003, 2005, 2007 Murex D'or Award - Best Female Lebanese Singer of the year, Beirut

2003, 2006 Murex D'or Award - Best Video of the Year, Beirut.

2003: Ya Salam - Nadine Labaki, 2006: Ehsas Jdeed - Said elMarouk)

2003 The Golden Lion Award, Egypt

2003, 2007 LG Music Award

2003, 2005 Zahrat elKhaleej Magazine - Best Female Arab Singer, Dubai

2004, 2010 Zahrat elKhaleej - Best Music Video of the Year, Dubai (Lawn Ouyounak, Fi hagat - respectively)

2004 Arabian Music Awards - Best Female Arab Singer of the year, Dubai

2005 Newsweek - Most Influential Arab Personalities, Kuwait

2005 - Honor from the Opera House of Egypt

2007 - Certificate from the Pope of Rome

2007 Middle East Music Awards (''Mobinil'') - Best Female Arab Singer of the year, Cairo 2007, 2009 Arabian Business - World's Most Influential Arabs, Most Influential Contemporary Female Singer in 2007, Most Powerful Arab Singers 2007 Kol elArab Survey - Best Arabic Star of the year 2007

2008 9th Annual Doha Festival - Honor Award, Doha

2008 World Music Award - World's Best-Selling Middle-Eastern Artist, 20th Annual WMA, Monaco 2008 Student Choice Award - [College Student Survey]: Best Album of the Year 2008, Beirut 2008 ''AlJumhuriya'' newspaper, ''Freedom Magazine'' - Best Female Arab Star of 2008, Egypt.. only?

2009 Regional Ambassador for the UNICEF in the Middle East & North Africa

2009 Al-Jazirah Newspaper survey : Best Female Arab singer of the Year. ''Saudi Arabia''

2010 Stars Cafe Magazine - Best selling female artist of the decade.

2010 World Travel Award - Best Female world singer of the Year .

2010 Sama Al Noujoum-Best Female Singer 2010/Fi hagat Best Music Video 2010 Panet Survey-Best Female singer 2010 Arab Sound Awards -Best Arabic Female Singer

2010 Music My Life- Fi Hagat Best Song Of 2010

2010 Best Of Lbc 2010- N 7 Best Album/Fi Hagat- Best Music Video 2010 Panorama Fm (MBC)-N 7 Best Arabic Album. 2010-2011 Jaras Scoop Awards-Best Female Singer

2010-2011 Melody Fm Awards-Best Female Singer

Stars Cafe Awards 2010:

* Best Female Artist

* Best Album : 7

* Best Song: Fi Hagat

* Best Lyrics: Fi Hagat

* Best Arrangement: Fi Hagat

* Best Music Video: Sheikh El Shabab

2011 Won two awards from "Murex D'or 2010" ceremony in Lebanon. First award as the Star of Lebanese song, and the second award for the category of best music video for the song "Sheikh El Shabab."

2011 Best Female Singer- "Woujouh Men Lebnan" awards.

2011 Arabian Business- Most Famous Celebrity in the Middle East

Philanthropy and humanitarian work

Ajram has participated in numerous charity events and concerts that she considers a priority in her music career. In the year 2006, Ajram opened an organization under the name "Jam'iyet Nancy Ajram Al-Khayria" (Nancy Ajram's Charity Organization) in Beirut, Lebanon, that works on collecting and distributing money for the poor. Nancy also released a song about peace, "Resala Ilal Aalam" (A Message to the World), in her children's album as a music video, which was rumored to be presented to the Unicef. Ajram also participated amongst over 100 other prominent Arab artists in a huge production called "ElDhameer elArabi", a 10-year sequel to "AlHelm Al Arabi" that outlines the major political events in the Arab world in the past ten years.

In June 2008, Nancy participated in The Big Ball, a charity event in Dubai which raised over Dhs 940,000 for helping underprivileged children by auctioning one of her favourite dresses and encouraging children's fund-raising events; she announced, "The Big Ball is doing a wonderful thing and I'm happy to support it. I'm coming for my love of children and because I want to help underprivileged children find a happy place in this world. Children inspired my latest album ''Shakhbat Shakhabit'' and especially the song "Resala lel3alam" (A Message to the World)." Ajram, however, continues to refuse announcing her other charitable projects to the public.

On October 22, 2009, the UNICEF chose Ajram to be the first female regional ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa, as was announced in a press conference held in Beirut. Nancy announced that she will be starting her charity projects in 2010. In late 2009 she appeared in the UNICEF's commercial marking the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, joining other influential Middle Eastern celebrities such as Kazem el-Saher, Saber el-Rebai and Karess Bashar.

Criticism and controversy

Many rumors of boycotts against Ajram's concerts filled the internet, although none appeared to be true.

In October 2003, a riot broke out outside a concert by Ajram in Bahrain. Islamists from the country's main opposition parties, including Al Wefaq, attacked concert goers. Al Wefaq's leaders defended the action, as it was the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In May 2006, Ajram returned to perform in Bahrain without any incidents.

On her official website, Nancy Ajram has apologized for anti-Iranian remarks falsely attributed to her on a website posing as her homepage.

Nancy Ajram has expressed extreme anger towards recent circulating rumors in Egypt regarding the spread of nude photos of her on mobile phones. A large number of youths around Egypt and around the Arab world have been spreading nude photos of the singer supposedly taken at a women's spa for a full body wax. Nancy, however, denies the spa visit and claims such photos are fake.

Discography

Studio albums

1998: ''Mihtagalak''

2001: ''Sheel Oyounak Anni''

2003: ''Ya Salam''

2004: ''Ah W Noss''

2006: ''Ya Tabtab...Wa Dallaa''

2008: ''Betfakkar Fi Eih?!''

2010: ''7''

Other albums

2007: ''Shakhbat Shakhabit''

DVDs and live albums

2004: ''Live at the Jarash Festival'' [DVD] - MegaStar

2005: ''Ma La Ta'arifunahu 3an Nancy Ajram'' [DVD] - MBC

2006: ''Ah w Noss: Collector's Edition'' [CD and DVD] - MegaStar

2006: ''Ya Salam: Collector's Edition'' [CD and DVD] - MegaStar

2007: ''Shakhbat Shakhabit'' [DVD]

2007: ''ElDonya Helwa - Live'' [Live CD]

2008: ''The Best of Nancy Clips'' [DVD]

2008: ''Greatest Hits'' [Compilation CD] - EMI

2009: ''Awwel Marra'' [Old Live Songs CD] - Artline Music

Non-album singles

Nancy released several songs dedicated to special countries in the Arab world, starting with "Kuwait alShahama" in 2005. In early 2006, she released a single, "Ana Masry" ("I am Egyptian"), timed to coincide with Egypt's hosting and winning of the African Cup of Nations football tournament, taking it by storm. Its video showed Egyptians representing the diversity of the country lip-sync the patriotic lyrics of the song. Nancy also released a song for the rival Egyptian soccer teams "Ahly and Zamalek", being the first to do so after Sabah. Nancy released a sensual song for Lebanon called "Habib elOmr" composed by Ziad Boutrous, which preceded the 2006 Lebanese war. After the 2007 "Nahr el Bared" war, Nancy dedicated a song composed by Samir Sfeir to the Lebanese Army, called "Khalleek Bwejj elGhadab".

2005 "Kuwait Al Shahama"

2005 "Ana Masry"

2005 "Agbal" - (released in "Afdal Ma Endana" UAE compilation album)

2006 "Ahli w Zamalek"

2006 "Habib el Omr"

2007 "Bwejj el Ghadab"

2007 "El Dunya Helwa" [Coke Single] - (featured in Live performances album)

2009 "Ya Rab Tikbar Mila"

2009 "Efta7 Albak Tefra7" [Coke Single] - (released on Coke official website)

2010 "Masr el Ma7rousa"

2010 "Salemoli 3alaih"

2011 "Wahshani Ya Masr Moot"

2011 "7adri La3bek"

2011 "papa Porto"

Group works

2003 ''Il7a2ni'' (Follow Me) for the Lebanese Marathon, featuring Haifa Wehbe, Dina Hayek, Joe Ashkar, and Yuri Mrakadi.

2005 ''La Ma Khelset El Hekaya'' (It's Not Over) after the assassination of late president Rafiq elHariri, featuring Nawal elZoghbi, Haifa Wehbe, Wael Kfoury, Sabah, Maya Nasri, and many others.

2008 ''ElDhameer el 3arabi'' (The Arab Conscience) the sequel to the well-known "elHelm al3arabi" along with more than 100 artists including Wadih elSafi, Assala, Latifa, and Cheb Khaled.

Soundtracks

Ramadan 2009: ''Ibn elArandaly''

Intro: "Ya Ibn el Arandaly"

Outro: "Kol elHekaya"

Global Coke slogans

Coca-Cola Middle East have always incorporated International Coke slogans into pan-Arab campaigns with Nancy. In 2007, Coca-Cola released their international trademark campaign of their popular slogan "The Coke Side of Life", which focused on themes such as fun, happiness, colors, and life. A collaboration with Nancy Ajram lead to the making of the song "El Donya Helwa" (The World is Beautiful) for which a commercial was filmed with an American director on international standards and hi-tech effects. Nancy insisted on filming in Lebanon which had been hit by war a while back. "El Donya Helwa" is considered Coca-Cola Middle East's and Nancy Ajram's most successful commercial to date; the single became one of Ajram's most successful songs, leading to its release as a single track in a "Live" album with live performances from her last studio album Atabtab.

In 2009, as the campaign was sequeled internationally with "Open Happiness", Coke Middle East and Nancy released "Eftah Albak Tefrah". However, due to Nancy's pregnancy and giving birth, she was unable to participate in the print or TV campaigns that year and the song was used on the International commercial instead. A website was launched for that campaign entitled "Eftah Tefrah".

In 2010, Coca Cola released an Arabic version of Wavin' Flag originally by K'naan. The Arabic version "Wavin' Flag / Shagga' Bi Alamak Da" (In Arabic شجّع بعلمك ده) has Nancy Ajram featuring K'naan and meant for pan-Arab promotion of 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa.

Videography

Official music videos

"Sheel Ouyounak Anni" "Akhasmak Ah" "Ah w Noss" "Ya Tabtab Wa Dalla" rowspan="5" rowspan="3"

+ Official Music Videos
Year	Title	Album	Director
1998	"Mihtagalak"	''Mihtagalak''
2001	|	Sheel Oyoonak Anni>Sheel Ouyounak Anni''	Guy Zahlan
2002	|rowspan="3"	Ya Salam...'' ||rowspan="5"> Nadine Labaki
rowspan="2"	2003	"Ya Salam"
"Sehr Oyouno" (Yey)
	|rowspan="4"| "Ah w Noss"
"Lawn Ouyounak"
	"Oul Tany Kida"
"Inta Eih"	Nadine Labaki
rowspan="4"		2006		''Ya Tabtab..Wa Dallaa''
"Moegaba"	Harry Rankin, Mike Lipscombe
"Ana Yalli"	Pascale D'Ash
"Ehsas Jdeed"	Said elMarouk
rowspan="3"	2007	"Elli Kan"
"Mishtaga Leik"
"Shakhbat Shakhabit" (ft. Katkouta, Shater, Eid Milad)				[Children's Album]	Said elMarouk
	"Risala Ilal Aalam"
"Betfakkar Fi Eih"	''Betfakkar Fi Eih?!'' || rowspan="2"|Said elMarouk
"Min Dally Nseek"
	"Lamset Eed"
"Ibn elGiran"	Mike Harris
"Mashi Haddi"	Leila Kanaan
rowspan="3"	2010	"Shaggaa' Be Alamak" (Wavin' Flag)(with K'Naan) ||	Single	Codirector: Leila Kanaan
"Fi Hagat"	7||Nadine Labaki
"Sheikh El Shabab"	Leila Kanaan
2011	"Ya Kether"

Commercials

Ajram's success as a singer led to high-profile advertising deals with Coca-Cola and Sony Ericsson and Damas Jewelry. Nancy remained the only Arab star promoting Coke until late 2007 when Egyptian sensations Mohammed Hamaki and Tamer Hosni joined in as well, as she still remains the only female. Coca-Cola and Nancy formed a great team since five years making commercials and music videos that stood out in the Arab world, synchronising local campaigns with worldwide slogans.

Concert Tickle, Munroe, WinkMoegaba Coke BottleElDonya Helwa Have a CokeMeen Ghayri Ana? ''Noss elKawn''Eftah Albak TefrahShaggaa' Be Alamak (Wavin' Flag)

+ Middle East Coke Campaigns
width =	Year	Coke Hit	Theme	# of Ads	Campaign
	Oul Tany Kida	|	3	TV,MV,print
Instrumental:'' Lawn Ouyounak''	|	3	TV,print
rowspan=2	2006	|	Circus	1	TV,MV,print
Ashtiki Minno	|	1	TV
rowspan=2	2007	|	The Coke Side of Life	1	TV,print
-
2008	|	Live on the Coke Side of Life	3	TV,MV,print
2009	|Open Happiness|
2010	|2010 FIFA World Cup|

DAMAS's youth-inspired set called "Farfasha", which are gold collections from the World Gold Council said to be chosen by Nancy herself, was promoted by her in three different campaigns. Each campaign had a new collection for the set and a song, commercial, and music video, starting with "Ana Yalli", then "Elli Kan" from Atabtab, and last with "Ibn elGiran" from Betfakkar fi eih?!.

A survey by Sony Ericsson where Nancy was named the most popular Arab star led them into signing a deal with her as their celebrity spokesperson. The company co-sponsored the release of her best-selling album Bitfakkar Fi Eih. In Febrauary 2009 the W595i phone was officially released with a Nancy special edition kit that held her signature on the back of the phone, a free copy of her album and ringtones of her songs. This was accompanied by print advertising, a press conference in Dubai, as well as a commercial set in March 2009 that featured Nancy and the song "Wana Ben Idek" from her best-selling album Bitfakkar Fi Eih.

See also

Nancy Ajram videography

References

External links

Nancy Ajram Official Website

Fiascos affect Arab music awards, 17 May 2004 BBC (Ajram voted best newcomer)

Arab youth revel in pop revolution by Sebastian Usher, 21 May 2007, BBC

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:Lebanese Christians Category:Lebanese Maronites Category:Lebanese female singers Category:Lebanese musicians Category:Arabic-language singers Category:UNICEF people Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Lebanese artists Category:Arab people

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