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Authoritative texts of Mark Twain's early writings


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Sources in this list include books, newspapers, and periodicals. Book citations are listed by author's last name and date of publication (i.e., Angel 1881), while books about Mark Twain take a separate abbreviation (i.e., MTB). Newspapers are listed by place and title. Periodicals are given by title only (i.e., The Californian). The list is in alphabetical order.

volume

section

"Section" here refers to the places and periods in which Mark Twain wrote his tales and sketches. The editors of the Early Tales & Sketches divided volumes 1 and 2 into sections based on these places and periods.

series

"Series" here refers to the thematic groupings editors of the Early Tales & Sketches gave to writings that either treated the same subject matter (i.e., "Two Descents into the Spanish Mine") or were in fact a series (i.e., "Answers to Correspondents").

A Gallant Fireman

  • Description: Hannibal Western Union, 16 January 1851

The Dandy Frightening the Squatter

  • Description: Boston Carpet Bag, May 1852

Hannibal, Missouri

  • Description: Philadelphia American Courier, 8 May 1852

A Family Muss

  • Description: Hannibal Journal, 9 September 1852

'Local' Resolves to Commit Suicide

  • Description: Hannibal Journal, 16 September 1852

'Pictur' Department

  • Description: Hannibal Journal, 23 September 1852

Historical Exhibition—A No. 1 Ruse

  • Description: Hannibal Journal, 16 September 1852

[Blab's Jour]

  • Description: Hannibal Journal, 23 September 1852

Connubial Bliss

  • Description: Hannibal Journal, 4 November 1852

The Heart's Lament

  • Description: Hannibal Daily Journal, 5 May 1853

Love Concealed

  • Description: Hannibal Daily Journal, 6 May 1853

[First Letter from Grumbler]

  • Description: Hannibal Daily Journal, 7 May 1853

[First Letter from Rambler]

  • Description: Hannibal Daily Journal, 9 May 1853

To Rambler

  • Description: Hannibal Daily Journal, 10 May 1853

[Letter from Peter Pencilcase's Son, John Snooks]

  • Description: Hannibal Daily Journal, 12 May 1853

[Second Letter from Rambler]

  • Description: Hannibal Daily Journal, 13 May 1853

Separation

  • Description: Hannibal Missouri Courier, 12 May 1853

“Oh, She Has a Red Head!”

  • Description: Hannibal Daily Journal, 13 May 1853

The Burial of Sir Abner Gilstrap, Editor of the Bloomington “Republican”

  • Description: Hannibal Daily Journal, 23 May 1853

“Jul'us Caesar”

  • Description: Manuscript (previously unpublished), 1855–1856

To Mollie

  • Description: Manuscript, 20 April 1856

“Lines Suggested by a Reminiscence, and Which You Will Perhaps Understand”

  • Description: Hannibal Evening Courier-Post, Early May 1856

To Jennie

  • Description: Hannibal Evening Courier-Post, 7 May 1856

[River Intelligence]

  • Description: New Orleans Crescent, 17 May 1859

[The Mysterious Murders in Risse]

  • Description: Manuscript (previously unpublished), 1 August 1859

[Pilot's Memoranda]

  • Description: St. Louis Missouri Republican, 30 August 1860

[Ghost Life on the Mississippi]

  • Description: Manuscript, January–June 1861

Petrified Man

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 4 October 1862 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; radiating text established from reprintings in the Sacramento Union, Nevada [CA] Democrat, San Francisco Evening Bulletin, Auburn [CA] Placer Herald)

The Spanish Mine

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, late October 1862 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Oroville [CA] Butte Record)

The Pah-Utes

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 13–19 December 1862 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Marysville [CA] Appeal)

The Illustrious Departed

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 28 December 1862

Our Stock Remarks

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 30–31 December 1862

More Ghosts

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 1 January 1863

New Year’s Day

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 1 January 1863

Unfortunate Thief

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 8 January 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Stockton Independent)

The Sanitary Ball

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 10 January 1863

Due Notice

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 10 January 1863

Territorial Sweets

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 22–28 January 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Santa Cruz Sentinel)

Letter from Carson City

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 3 February 1863

Letter from Carson

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 5 February 1863

Letter from Carson

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 8 February 1863

The Spanish

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 12 or 22 February 1863

Silver Bars—How Assayed

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 17–22 February 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Stockton Independent)

Ye Sentimental Law Student

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 19 February 1863

A Sunday in Carson

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 24 February–31 March 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Rabb 1907)

The Unreliable

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 25 February 1863

Reportorial

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 26 February 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Marysville [CA] Appeal)

Examination of Teachers

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, March–April 1863

City Marshal Perry

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 4 March 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Rabb 1907)

[Champagne with the Board of Brokers]

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 7 March 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Angel 1881)

Advice to the Unreliable on Church-Going

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 12 April 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Rabb 1907)

Horrible Affair

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 16–18 April 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Oroville [CA] Butte Record)

Letter from Mark Twain

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 19–21 May 1863

“Mark Twain's” Letter

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 9 July 1863

“Mark Twain's” Letter

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 30 July 1863

A Duel Prevented

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 2 August 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; radiating text established from reprintings in the Sacramento Union, Angel 1881)

[An Apology Repudiated]

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 4 August 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Angel 1881)

Letter from Mark Twain

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 25 August 1863

“Mark Twain's” Letter

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 30 August 1863

Unfortunate Blunder

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 3 September 1863

Bigler vs. Tahoe

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 4–5 September 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the San Francisco Golden Era)

Letter from Mark Twain

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 17 September 1863

How to Cure a Cold

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 20 September 1863

Mark Twain—More of Him

  • Description: San Francisco Golden Era, 27 September 1863, and Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 21–24 June 1863

The Lick House Ball

  • Description: San Francisco Golden Era, 27 September 1863

A Bloody Massacre near Carson

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 28 October 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Gold Hill [NV] News, Sacramento Union, San Francisco Evening Bulletin)

Letter from Mark Twain

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 17 November 1863

A Tide of Eloquence

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 1–3 December 1863 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the San Francisco Golden Era)

Letter from Mark Twain

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 19–20 January 1864

Winters' New House

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 12 February 1864

An Excellent School

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 12 February 1864

Those Blasted Children

  • Description: New York Sunday Mercury, 21 February 1864

Frightful Accident to Dan De Quille

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 20 April 1864 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; radiating text established from reprintings in the Nevada City [CA] Gazette, San Francisco Golden Era, Unionville [NV] Humboldt Register)

[Dan Reassembled]

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 28–30 April 1864 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the MTB)

Washoe.—“Information Wanted”

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 1–15 May 1864 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the San Francisco Golden Era)

Parting Presentation

  • Description: San Francisco Alta California, 13 June 1864

“Mark Twain” in the Metropolis

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 17–23 June 1864 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the San Francisco Golden Era)

The Evidence in the Case of Smith vs. Jones

  • Description: San Francisco Golden Era, 26 June 1864

Early Rising, As Regards Excursions to the Cliff House

  • Description: San Francisco Golden Era, 3 July 1864

Original Novelette

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 4 July 1864

What a Sky-Rocket Did

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 12 August 1864

[Sarrozay Letter from “the Unreliable”]

  • Description: Manuscript (previously unpublished), 16–22 August 1864

The New Chinese Temple

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 19 August 1864

The Chinese Temple

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 21 August 1864

The New Chinese Temple

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 23 August 1864

Supernatural Impudence

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 24 August 1864

Inexplicable News from San José

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 23 August 1864

How to Cure Him of It

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 27 August 1864

Due Warning

  • Description: San Francisco Morning Call, 18 September 1864

The Mysterious Chinaman

  • Description: Manuscript facsimile, October 1864–mid-1865

A Notable Conundrum

  • Description: The Californian, 1 October 1864

Concerning the Answer to That Conundrum

  • Description: The Californian, 8 October 1864

Still Further Concerning That Conundrum

  • Description: The Californian, 15 October 1864

Whereas

  • Description: The Californian, 22 October 1864

A Touching Story of George Washington's Boyhood

  • Description: The Californian, 29 October 1864

Daniel in the Lion's Den—and Out Again All Right

  • Description: The Californian, 5 November 1864

The Killing of Julius Cæsar “Localized”

  • Description: The Californian, 12 November 1864

A Full and Reliable Account of the Extraordinary Meteoric Shower of Last Saturday Night

  • Description: The Californian, 19 November 1864

Lucretia Smith's Soldier

  • Description: The Californian, 3 December 1864

An Unbiased Criticism

  • Description: The Californian, 18 March 1865

Important Correspondence

  • Description: The Californian, 6 May 1865

Further of Mr. Mark Twain's Important Correspondence

  • Description: The Californian, 13 May 1865

How I Went to the Great Race between Lodi and Norfolk

  • Description: The Californian, 27 May 1865

A Voice for Setchell

  • Description: The Californian, 27 May 1865

Answers to Correspondents

  • Description: The Californian, 3 June 1865

Answers to Correspondents

  • Description: The Californian, 10 June 1865

Answers to Correspondents

  • Description: The Californian, 17 June 1865

Enthusiastic Eloquence

  • Description: San Francisco Dramatic Chronicle, 23 June 1865

Answers to Correspondents

  • Description: The Californian, 24 June 1865

Just “One More Unfortunate”

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 27–30 June 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Downieville [CA] Mountain Messenger)

Answers to Correspondents

  • Description: The Californian, 1 July 1865

Advice for Good Little Boys

  • Description: San Francisco Youth's Companion, 1 July 1865 (Youth's Companion printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in the Yreka City [CA] Weekly Union)

Advice for Good Little Girls

  • Description: San Francisco Youth's Companion, 1 or 8 July 1865 (Youth's Companion printing is not extant; copy-text is from JF1)

Mark Twain on the Colored Man

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 7–19 July 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from San Francisco Golden Era)

Answers to Correspondents

  • Description: The Californian, 8 July 1865

The Facts

  • Description: The Californian, 26 August 1865

The Only Reliable Account of the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

  • Description: Manuscript (previously unpublished), 1 September–16 October 1865

Angel's Camp Constable

  • Description: Manuscript (previously unpublished), 1 September–16 October 1865

The Cruel Earthquake

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 10–11 October 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in Gold Hill News)

Popper Defieth Ye Earthquake

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 15—31 October 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from unidentified reprinting in Yale Scrapbook)

Earthquake Almanac

  • Description: San Francisco Dramatic Chronicle, 17 October 1865

Bob Roach's Plan for Circumventing a Democrat

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 21–24 October 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in San Francisco Examiner)

[San Francisco Letter]

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 26–28 October 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in San Francisco Evening Bulletin)

Steamer Departures

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 31 October–2 November 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in an unidentified source preserved in Yale Scrapbook)

Exit “Bummer”

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 8 November 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in The Californian)

Pleasure Excursion

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 9–12 November 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is reconstructed from separate reprintings in San Francisco Golden Era and San Francisco Examiner)

[Editorial “Puffing”]

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 15–18 November 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in San Francisco Examiner)

Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog

  • Description: New York Saturday Press, 18 November 1865

The Old Thing

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 18 November 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in The Californian)

“Mark Twain” on the Launch of the Steamer “Capital”

  • Description: The Californian, 18 November 1865

The Pioneers' Ball

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 19 or 21 November 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is reconstructed from reprintings in The Californian and San Francisco Golden Era)

The Great Earthquake in San Francisco

  • Description: New York Weekly Review, 25 November 1865

The Guard on a Bender

  • Description: Napa County Reporter, 25 November 1865

Benkert Cometh!

  • Description: Napa County Reporter, 25 November 1865

Uncle Lige

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 28–30 November 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in The Californian)

Webb's Benefit

  • Description: Napa County Reporter, 2 December 1865

A Rich Epigram

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 8–10 December 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in San Francisco American Flag)

A Graceful Compliment

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 10–31 December 1865

“Christian Spectator”

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 13–15 December 1865

More Romance

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 13–15 December 1865

Grand Fete-Day at the Cliff House

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 19–21 December 1865 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprinting in San Francisco Examiner)

Macdougall vs. Maguire

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 22–23 December 1865

The Christmas Fireside

  • Description: The Californian, 23 December 1865

Enigma

  • Description: The Californian, 23 December 1865

San Francisco Letter

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 24 or 26 December 1865

Another Enterprise

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 26–27 December 1865

Spirit of the Local Press

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 26–27 December 1865

Convicts

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 31 December 1865

Fitz Smythe's Horse

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 16–18 January 1866 (Territorial Enterprise printing is not extant; copy-text is from reprintings in San Francisco Golden Era and Beadle's Dime Book of Fun No. 3)

Closed Out

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 30–31 January 1866

Take the Stand, Fitz Smythe

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 6–7 February 1866

Remarkable Dream

  • Description: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, 8–10 February 1866