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.