A Rare Handshake that Named an Era

By LINDA DUPREE, The Players Foundation

Charles Dudley Warner and Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

This extraordinary photograph from The Players Foundation collection captures a young Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) shaking hands with Charles Dudley Warner, with whom he wrote the 1873 novel "The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today."

This image is rare. While portraits of Twain abound from his later years, photographs of him in his 30's, especially alongside collaborators, are few and far between. This may be the only known photo of Twain and Warner together, taken around the time they created the satirical novel that gave its name to an entire era of American history.

"The Gilded Age" was Twain’s only co-authored novel, and its skewering of political corruption, land speculation, and nouveau-riche ambition remains strikingly relevant. Twain contributed his signature wit and fictional flair; Warner, a seasoned journalist and editor, brought grounded political commentary.

Together, they crafted more than a novel; they coined a cultural concept. The "Gilded Age" has come to define the turbulent decades following the Civil War, an age of gold-leaf glamour over deep social cracks.

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Linda Dupree

Linda Dupree, former CEO of NCSolutions, now serves on The Players Foundation board, bringing her corporate leadership to the preservation of theatre and cultural history -- driven by a deep belief in the transformative power of the arts.