Twayne Publishers was founded in
1949 in
New York to publish translations of works of classic
Chinese literature for an
American audience. As befitting their mission, their name was inspired by the line from
Rudyard Kipling's "
The Ballad of East and West": "
East is East and
West is West and never the
twain shall meet". The name Twain was changed to Twayne in deference to the heirs of
Mark Twain, lest anyone think they were attempting to capitalize on the author's name.
They have also published works of
literature both in
English and from numerous countries in translation. They are best known today for their scholarly publications, especially the famed "
Authors Series". Perhaps best described as
Cliff's Notes for professionals, these slim
navy blue hardbacks are an invaluable reference and starting point for research into a particular author, and I can't begin to describe how helpful they've been for me. The series is large - there is a Twayne for probably every author you've ever heard of.
http://mlr.com/twayne/index.html