Mark Twain

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Illustrated Mark Twain

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte is an 1896 novel by Mark Twain which recounts the life of Joan of Arc. It is Twain's last completed novel, published when he was 61 years old. The novel is presented as a translation by "Jean Francois Alden" of memoirs by Louis de Conte, a fictionalized version of Joan of Arc's page Louis de Contes. The novel is divided into three sections according to Joan of Arc's development: a youth in Domrémy, a commander of the army of Charles VII of France, and a defendant at trial in Rouen. The novel was first published as a serialization in Harper's Magazine beginning in April 1895. Twain was aware of his reputation as a comic writer and he asked that each installment appear anonymously so that readers would treat it seriously . Regardless, his authorship soon became known, and Harper and Brothers published the book edition with his name in May 1896.