# Is "Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World" by Mark Twain a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain (American Publishing Company, 1897) is identified by: The American first edition collates 712 pages, bound in blue cloth with gilt spine titling and decoration and an inset color decoration of an elephant on the front board; it carries a photographic frontispiece of Twain and numerous in-text and full-page illustrations by eleven artists and photographers. The Hartford, American Publishing Company edition titled Following the Equator is the edition collected under that title.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The American first edition collates 712 pages, bound in blue cloth with gilt spine titling and decoration and an inset color decoration of an elephant on the front board; it carries a photographic frontispiece of Twain and numerous in-text and full-page illustrations by eleven artists and photographers
- BAL 3451 notes a collector preference for copies with a single Hartford imprint on the title page, but because the title-leaf was printed and inserted separately from the rest of the book, it cautions that the different imprint states may reflect simultaneous rather than sequential publication; the signature mark '11' on page 161, though present in most copies and often cited by dealers, is likewise not a confirmed priority point
- The British edition, issued by Chatto & Windus the same year under the different title More Tramps Abroad in maroon cloth with a publisher's catalogue dated September 1897, carries only four illustrations against the American edition's roughly 193, and omits about 6,000 words present in the American text
- Publisher imprint reads American Publishing Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mark Twain |
| Publisher | American Publishing Company |
| Year | 1897 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The American first edition collates 712 pages, bound in blue cloth with gilt spine titling and decoration and an inset color decoration of… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The American first edition collates 712 pages, bound in blue cloth with gilt spine titling and decoration and an inset color decoration of an elephant on the front board; it carries a photographic frontispiece of Twain and numerous in-text and full-page illustrations by eleven artists and photographers. BAL 3451 notes a collector preference for copies with a single Hartford imprint on the title page, but because the title-leaf was printed and inserted separately from the rest of the book, it cautions that the different imprint states may reflect simultaneous rather than sequential publication; the signature mark '11' on page 161, though present in most copies and often cited by dealers, is likewise not a confirmed priority point. The British edition, issued by Chatto & Windus the same year under the different title More Tramps Abroad in maroon cloth with a publisher's catalogue dated September 1897, carries only four illustrations against the American edition's roughly 193, and omits about 6,000 words present in the American text.

## Is this the true first?
The Hartford, American Publishing Company edition titled Following the Equator is the edition collected under that title. The Chatto & Windus London edition, issued the same year under the different title More Tramps Abroad, is a textually distinct edition rather than a straightforward reprint, and its exact priority relative to the American edition is not firmly established in the record.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World* by Mark Twain a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/following-the-equator-a-journey-around-the-world
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.