FROM THE DIRECTOR

2024 will be the 150th anniversary of the Mark Twain Study.

Dear Friend,

On June 11, 1874, while summering at Quarry Farm in Elmira, Mark Twain wrote a letter to his good friend Joseph Twichell. The author was reveling in a surprise gift from his sister-in-law, Susan Crane:

Susie Crane has built the loveliest study for me, you ever saw. It is octagonal, with a peaked roof, each octagon filled with a spacious window, & it sits perched in complete isolation on top of an elevation that commands leagues of valley & city & retreating ranges of distant blue hills. It is a cozy nest, with just room in it for a sofa & a table & three or four chair - & when the storms sweep down the remote valley & the lightning flashes above the hills beyond, & the rain beats upon the roof over my head, imagine the luxury of it!

Mark Twain proceeds to write some of the most important and iconic works of American literature in this small structure, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and numerous other full-length books, short stories, letters, speeches, and a couple bawdy plays.

2024 will be the 150th anniversary of the Mark Twain Study. In preparation for the upcoming celebrations, the Center for Mark Twain Studies is busy making sure the landmark structure is in peak condition for the sesquicentennial events. In 2023 our goal is to restore all the windows and make them fully operational, along with other important preservation and restoration projects to mark the anniversary.

Please consider giving this year to the Center for Mark Twain Studies. Your gift will not only help us preserve the Study, but it also helps us sustain all of our good works – the Quarry Farm Fellowship Program, the CMTS academic conferences and symposia, literary outreach to students and teachers, creation of content on MarkTwainStudies.org, the Trouble Begins public lecture series, and the careful stewardship of CMTS’ other literary landmark – Quarry Farm. As a token of our appreciation, you will receive mailings announcing upcoming events and our occasional newsletter, Dear Friends, describing the activities of the Center for Mark Twain Studies.

Thank you so much for your kind support and encouragement through the years. If you happen to be in Elmira, we would be happy to show you how your gift benefits the Study, Quarry Farm, and the Mark Twain Studies community.

With sincere gratitude,

Joseph Lemak Director