First American edition of Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer published

Background. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known as Mark Twain, wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, drawing on his childhood in Hannibal, Missouri. The novel features humor, satire, and social criticism. Twain had previously collaborated on The Gilded Age in 1874. Tom Sawyer was his first attempt to write a novel.

Publication. Twain submitted the manuscript to Elisha Bliss of the American Publishing Company in November 1875. The text was first published in London by Chatto and Windus in June 1876 without illustrations. The American Publishing Company subsequently released its edition in December 1876, which included illustrations by True Williams.

Legacy. Mark Twain alleged that the novel was one of the first to be written on a typewriter. Its humor, satire, and social criticism were features that later made Twain one of the most important authors of American literature. The work has a sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which is often called the Great American Novel.