Editing Mark Twain (section)

===Speaking engagements===
[[File:Sydney writers walk mark twain.jpg|thumb|Plaque on [[Sydney Writers Walk]] commemorating the visit of Twain in 1895]]
Twain was in great demand as a featured speaker, performing solo humorous talks similar to modern stand-up comedy.<ref>Judith Yaross Lee, "Mark Twain as a Stand-up Comedian", ''The Mark Twain Annual'' (2006) No. 4 pp.&nbsp;3–23. {{doi|10.1111/j.1756-2597.2006.tb00038.x}}</ref> He gave paid talks to many men's clubs, including the [[Authors' Club]], [[Beefsteak Club]], Vagabonds, [[White Friars]], and Monday Evening Club of Hartford.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Popova |first=Maria |date=2013-05-17 |title=Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling Critique the Media |url=https://www.themarginalian.org/2013/05/17/mark-twain-and-rudyard-kipling-critique-the-press/ |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=The Marginalian |language=en-US |archive-date=June 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605041953/https://www.themarginalian.org/2013/05/17/mark-twain-and-rudyard-kipling-critique-the-press/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Davies |first=David Stuart |date=2020-08-28 |title=David Stuart Davies takes a look at Mark Twain |url=https://wordsworth-editions.com/mark-twain/ |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=Wordsworth Editions |language=en-GB |archive-date=June 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605041954/https://wordsworth-editions.com/mark-twain/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= Mark Twain, a Biography| volume =II Part 2 1886-1900|page =108 |url=https://mark-twain.classic-literature.co.uk/mark-twain-a-biography-volume-ii-part-2-1886-1900/ebook-page-108.asp |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=mark-twain.classic-literature.co.uk |archive-date=June 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605041953/https://mark-twain.classic-literature.co.uk/mark-twain-a-biography-volume-ii-part-2-1886-1900/ebook-page-108.asp |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the late 1890s, Twain spoke to the [[Savage Club]] in London and was elected an honorary member. He was told that only three men had been so honored, including the [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Prince of Wales]], and Twain replied: "Well, it must make the Prince feel mighty fine."<ref name="paine"/>{{Rp|197}} He visited [[Melbourne]] and [[Sydney]] in 1895 as part of a world lecture tour. In 1897, Twain spoke to the Concordia Press Club in Vienna as a special guest, following the diplomat [[Charlemagne Tower, Jr.]] He delivered the speech "''[[The Awful German Language|Die Schrecken der Deutschen Sprache]]''" ("The Horrors of the German Language")—in German—to the great amusement of the audience.<ref name="lemaster"/>{{Rp|50}} In 1901, Twain was invited to speak at [[Princeton University]]'s [[American Whig-Cliosophic Society|Cliosophic Literary Society]], where he was made an honorary member.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.twainquotes.com/19010510.html |title=Mark Twain at Princeton |publisher=Twainquotes.com |access-date=December 7, 2013 |archive-date=May 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523063020/http://www.twainquotes.com/19010510.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1906, he testified in front of a [[United States Congress|Congressional]] [[Joint committee (legislative)|joint committee]] in favor of a bill that would extend the [[History of copyright law of the United States#Failed bill of rights provision|length of protection for a copyright]] to lifetime of the author plus 50 years, stating "I think that will satisfy any reasonable author, because it will take care of his children. Let the grandchildren take care of themselves."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Madsen |first=Annelise |date=March 2009 |title=Dressing the Part: Mark Twain's White Suit, Copyright Reform, and the Camera |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/200598627 |journal=The Journal of American Culture |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=53–71 |doi=10.1111/j.1542-734X.2009.00693.x |id={{ProQuest|200598627 }} }}</ref>

====Canadian visits====
In 1881, Twain was honored at a banquet in [[Montreal]], Canada where he made reference to securing a [[copyright]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Mark Twain in Montreal|url=http://www.twainquotes.com/18811210.html|website=twainquotes.com|publisher=The New York Times|access-date=January 2, 2017|ref=tq|archive-date=May 9, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509081234/http://www.twainquotes.com/18811210.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1883, Twain paid a brief visit to [[Ottawa]],<ref name="mtj"/> and he visited [[Toronto]] twice in 1884 and 1885 on a reading tour with [[George Washington Cable]], known as the "Twins of Genius" tour.<ref name="mtj">{{cite journal|last1=Roberts|first1=Taylor|title=Mark Twain in Toronto, Ontario, 1884–1885|jstor=41641453|journal=Mark Twain Journal|volume=36|issue=2|pages=18–25|year=1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Genial Mark|url=http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/huckfinn/twintur11.html|website=University of Virginia Library|publisher=Toronto Globe|access-date=January 2, 2017|ref=uva|archive-date=January 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170119152244/http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/huckfinn/twintur11.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="trl">{{cite web|title=Mark Twain in Toronto|url=http://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/trl/2015/09/mark-twain-in-toronto.html|website=Toronto Reference Library Blog|access-date=January 2, 2017|archive-date=January 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102172134/http://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/trl/2015/09/mark-twain-in-toronto.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The reason for the Toronto visits was to secure Canadian and British copyrights for Twain's upcoming book ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'',<ref name="mtj"/><ref name=trl/> to which he had alluded in his Montreal visit. The reason for the Ottawa visit had been to secure Canadian and British copyrights for ''Life on the Mississippi''.<ref name="mtj"/> Publishers in Toronto had printed unauthorized editions of Twain's books at the time, before an international copyright agreement was established in 1891.<ref name="mtj"/> These were sold in the United States as well as in Canada, depriving him of royalties. Twain estimated that [[Charles Belford|Belford Brothers']] edition of ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' alone had cost him $10,000 ({{Inflation|US|10000|1884|fmt=eq|r=-4}}).<ref name="mtj"/> He had unsuccessfully attempted to secure the rights for ''The Prince and the Pauper'' in 1881, in conjunction with his Montreal trip.<ref name="mtj"/> Eventually, Twain received legal advice to register a copyright in Canada (for both Canada and Britain) prior to publishing in the United States, which would restrain the Canadian publishers from printing a version when the American edition was published.<ref name="mtj"/><ref name=trl/> There was a requirement that a copyright be registered to a Canadian resident; Twain addressed this by his short visits to the country.<ref name="mtj"/><ref name=trl/>