The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Maker
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
(American, 1835 - 1910)
Date1876
ClassificationsHistory
DimensionsOverall: 9 x 7 x 1 1/4 in. (22.9 x 17.8 x 3.2 cm)
DescriptionThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910). Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1876.This is a first American edition, first printing, printed on wove paper, versos of half-title and preface blank. Octavo. Half-title, 4-page publisher's advertisements at end. Wood-engraved frontispiece and numerous illustrations in text by True Williams and others. Original blue cloth, blocked in gilt and black, peach endpapers; in a red morocco case.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist who was one of the preeminent American writers of the late 19th century. Twain captured life in the American West, drawing from his early life experiences as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River and other travels. He published articles and essays in various newspapers and magazines before gaining a national audience with his short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865), first published in The New York Saturday Press.
Twain's 1876 novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, became his best-selling work and established his legacy in American literature. The semi-autobiographical tale told the story of Tom Sawyer and his various adventures living along the Mississippi River from the satirical perspective of American culture that later became a trademark of Twain's work. Its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), follows Sawyer's friend, Huck Finn, and builds upon Twain's social criticism with themes of racism and classism throughout the book. Twain's works have been met with controversy, and have been the subject of censorship due to their content, as early as 1885. Huckleberry Finn is often included in the list of books considered as a Great American Novel, capturing the essence of American culture at a specific point in time. It was one of the first works to drawn on the regional vernacular of the United States, including the use of course language and racial epithets. Ernest Hemingway later wrote of the book: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn."
