# Is "Life on the Mississippi" by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) (James R. Osgood & Co., 1883) is identified by: US first edition, James R. US first (Osgood).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US first edition, James R. Osgood & Co., Boston, 1883
- The three classic first-state points are: the tailpiece on page 441 showing Mark Twain's head emerging from flames atop an urn (later suppressed at Mrs
- Clemens's request as too morbid); the caption on page 443 reading 'The St
- Louis Hotel'; and the uncorrected reading 'it it' on page 444
- Illustrated, issued in publisher's pictorial cloth
- Publisher imprint reads James R. Osgood & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) |
| Publisher | James R. Osgood & Co. |
| Year | 1883 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US first edition, James R. Osgood & Co., Boston, 1883 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
US first edition, James R. Osgood & Co., Boston, 1883. The three classic first-state points are: the tailpiece on page 441 showing Mark Twain's head emerging from flames atop an urn (later suppressed at Mrs. Clemens's request as too morbid); the caption on page 443 reading 'The St. Louis Hotel'; and the uncorrected reading 'it it' on page 444. Illustrated, issued in publisher's pictorial cloth.

## Is this the true first?
US first (Osgood). The flaming-urn tailpiece on page 441 is the key earliest-state point. An intermediate state retains the page 441 tailpiece but corrects the page 443 caption to 'The St. Charles Hotel'; the latest state removes the tailpiece entirely. The contemporaneous Chatto & Windus London edition is a separate issue.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings lack the page 441 flaming-head tailpiece and correct the page 443 caption and the 'it it' typo; absence of the tailpiece is the principal reprint tell.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Life on the Mississippi* by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/life-on-the-mississippi
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.