# Is "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) (Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885) is identified by: American first edition (Charles L. Both editions are collected.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- American first edition (Charles L. Webster, New York, 1885), first state — the three plate corrections made after the first printing are the decisive tells:
- 9, list of illustrations, 'Decided' (corrected to 'Decides')
- 13, list of illustrations, the 'Him and another Man' plate referenced as facing p
- 88 (corrected to 87)
- 57, 11th line from the bottom, 'with the was' (corrected to 'with the saw')
- Additional early-state points: p
- Publisher imprint reads Charles L. Webster and Company

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) |
| Publisher | Charles L. Webster and Company |
| Year | 1885 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | American first edition (Charles L. Webster, New York, 1885), first state — the three plate corrections made after the first printing are… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
American first edition (Charles L. Webster, New York, 1885), first state — the three plate corrections made after the first printing are the decisive tells: (1) p. 9, list of illustrations, 'Decided' (corrected to 'Decides'); (2) p. 13, list of illustrations, the 'Him and another Man' plate referenced as facing p. 88 (corrected to 87); (3) p. 57, 11th line from the bottom, 'with the was' (corrected to 'with the saw'). Additional early-state points: p. 155, the final '5' of the page number defective or lacking (some copies hand-stamped); p. 283, the Uncle Silas plate ('Who do you reckon it is?') in its defaced/obscene state, later re-engraved; and the frontispiece heliotype of the Karl Gerhardt bust with the drapery/cloth still visible (BAL 3415 also grades the title-leaf and frontispiece states).

## Is this the true first?
Both editions are collected. The English edition (Chatto & Windus, London) was published in December 1884, roughly two months before the American (Webster, New York, February 1885) — so London has precedence by date; the American Webster is the edition collected for its elaborate first-state point system and as the first American edition. Look above all for the three uncorrected plate readings (p. 9 'Decided', p. 13 '88', p. 57 'with the was'). Twain-signed copies are the association apex.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later states correct all three plate readings (to 'Decides', '87', 'with the saw'), re-engrave the p. 283 Uncle Silas plate, and repair the p. 155 page number; copies are frequently mixed-state. Corrected readings and the re-engraved plate indicate a later state, not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn
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.