Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), writing under the pen name Mark Twain, was born in Florida, Missouri, and raised in Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi River. The landscape and characters of his boyhood became the foundation of his greatest fiction. After working as a river pilot, journalist, and lecturer, Twain rose to international fame with The Innocents Abroad (1869), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). Celebrated for his biting wit, moral seriousness, and unmatched ear for American vernacular, Twain remains one of the defining voices of nineteenth-century American literature.