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Image depicting Was 'Tom Sawyer' really the first novel ever written on the typewriter?

Was ‘Tom Sawyer’ the first novel ever written on the typewriter?

 

Recommended for Middle Grades

The American writer Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) claimed to be the first author to use the typewriter. Twain is famous for books such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Who was Mark Twain?

Mark Twain was an American author. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest American writers of all time.

Twain wrote in his 1904 autobiography that his first novel written on a typewriter—the first typewritten novel at all—was Tom Sawyer.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was written in 1876. In the novel, a young boy named Tom Sawyer has several adventures, often with his friend, Huckleberry Finn. The book is set in the 1840s in the fictional town of St.Petersburg.

Originally a commercial failure, the book ended up being the best selling of Twain’s works during his lifetime.

However, some historical facts dispute what Twain said. Tom Sawyer was published from a handwritten copy, not one written on a typewriter. This handwritten copy is preserved even today.

Life on the Mississippi

But again, Mark Twain did submit a typewritten novel called Life on the Mississippi. This one was published after Tom Sawyer. This book is the first-ever submitted to a publisher as a typewritten novel.

So, you could say Twain was partly right.

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