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Mark Twain was a hardworking and prolific writer, but how did he spend his time when the "bread-and-butter element" was put aside and he was free to relax and amuse himself?

He was a lover of music and song, of cats and cigars, of charades and games; he was an enthusiastic inventor, an obsessive billiards player, a charismatic raconteur, a mischievous correspondent, and perhaps the most sought-after luncheon and dinner guest in America.

These many and varied leisure pursuits—and how Mark Twain's "play" influenced his "work"—are the subject of "Mark Twain at Play."

The exhibition brings together manuscripts, documents, notebooks, albums, vintage photographs, and other artifacts from The Bancroft Library's Mark Twain Papers. It was the inaugural exhibition (October 2008-April 2009) in the new exhibit space within the retrofitted and renovated Bancroft Library. More...