After the end of his… "Grant's memoirs comprise one of the most valuable writings by a military commander in history" (Eicher 492). It was one of the most profitable business deals that Twain ever did. Here’s what happened: After the war ended, Grant was one of the most famous people in the country. Although Grant omitted discussion of his presidency or sensitive personal matters such as his drinking, many scholars consider his autobiography the finest memoir ever penned by an American president and perhaps the foremost military memoir in the English language. Even speaking, however, became laborious as his condition deteriorated.
Mark Twain Prevented Ulysses S. Grant’s Widow from Being Penniless.
Mark Twain agreed to serve as the publisher.
on edge to know how the Civil War is coming out." Near the end, Grant was fond of a legal over-the-counter wine and cocaine mix that dulled his pain.Still the finest piece of American literature.What wouldn’t i do to sit next to him as trusted friend, and talk to him at that very moment!Or he felt like hell while dying of throat cancer.It’s a nice sentiment, but at that point in his life his throat cancer was so bad that he could barely speak.Fun fact: Grant inherited a slave from his wife's family and though offered $1000 for the slave (in 1860's money and poor) he chose to set the slave free.Everyone should watch the recently produced 3 part mini series on Grant's life. Completed in the last year of his life, 1885, as Grant battled throat cancer and poverty, the “Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant” was published by Mark Twain shortly after Grant’s death. Slow and painful.
However, now that he was confronting the terrifying prospect of leaving Julia a penniless widow, the grizzled general who fought to save the Union undertook one final mission to save his family from impoverishment.Former Civil War General and U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) sits (center, with top hat) for a family portrait with his wife, Julia Dent Grant, and their children and grandchildren at the family's seaside cottage in Long Branch, New Jersey, circa 1883.Grant astounded Twain with not just the quantity, but the quality of his prose. Between The Lines. If you're expecting typical dry CW blather, you're wrong.Poor Ulysses, he had a miserable time at the end of his life.I think it was throat cancer. His friend, Mark Twain was to publish the general’s wartime memoirs in return for a handsome royalty for Grant’s family. Grant penned his manuscript until his hand grew too feeble in the spring of 1885, forcing him to employ a stenographer.
A relieved Grant knew he had succeeded in giving Julia and his children financial security. In a cottage on the slopes of Mount McGregor, Grant launched his final campaign to complete his tome.When Twain visited Grant at the cottage, he brought the good news that he had already pre-sold 100,000 copies of the autobiography.
Instantly popular and praised by admirers, critics, and people throughout the country, this autobiography was both a critical and financial success. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. “Taking care of his family is all that mattered at that point,” Kemp says. Page 1 /6.
In need of financial rescue himself after a series of failed investments, the debt-ridden Twain inked Grant to a contract with his newly launched publishing house and gave him a $1,000 check to cover living expenses.Ulysses S. Grant reading on a house porch, thought to be the last photograph taken before his death, 1885.Grant had been no stranger to financial misfortune. And his memoirs are a hell of a read. "The best [memoirs] of any general's since Caesar."
“He may have originally undertaken the memoirs to provide for his wife after his death, but it must also have soothed and consoled him at the end of his life to recount his glorious victories in the Civil War.”With his mission accomplished, Grant finally laid down his pen on July 16 after crafting a herculean 366,000 words in less than a year.
It was one of the most profitable business deals that Twain ever did.