Mark Twain Room
About the Mark Twain Room
Made possible by public and private funding, including a $50,000 grant from the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, the Mark Twain Room officially opened to the public on May 12, 1995. Leaves from the original handwritten manuscript of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are on display in the center of the room.
In the early 1930s, the Buffalo Public Library (a predecessor of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library,) began to build a unique collection of special English and foreign language editions of the novel. Through the years, this collection has continued to grow. These remarkable items, Twain ephemera, and other collectibles, currently number more than five hundred, filling the bookcases lining the walls.
A portrait of Twain hangs prominently above the restored mantel from Olivia and Samuel Clemens’ Buffalo home. Norman Rockwell prints from a 1940 edition of Huckleberry Finn published by The Heritage Press enhance the wall space on either side. The steamer trunk, where the leaves of the first half of the manuscript lay forgotten for many years, is also on display.
