Mark Twain himself never declared personal bankruptcy. With the help of
Henry
Huddleston Rogers, his wife, Olivia, was recognized as the primary creditor
of
the Webster publishing firm and Twain's literary copyrights were assigned to
Olivia, something which is noted, e.g., on the reverse of the title page to
FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR, published by the American Publishing company in 1897
(Copyright 1897 by Olivia L. Clemens). Twain's creditors did not pressure
him
and were eventually paid in full after the 'round the world tour which was
the
basis for Following the Equator. Hence, althought the publishing house he
founded failed and he was technically broke, he did not actually file
bankruptcy papers in the technical sense.  For more detail, see the entiries
under "bankruptcy" in Mark Twain A-Z (R. Kent Rasmussen) or The Mark Twain
Encyclopedia (ed. by LeMaster, J.R. & Wilson, J.D.).  I hope this has been
helpful.

Martin Zehr, Ph.D., J.D.
Kansas City, Missouri.