Publishing

doi:10.1017/9781108617208.013

Chapter 11 - Publishing

from Part II - Literary Contexts

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 December 2019

Bruce Michelson

Edited by

John Bird

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John Bird: Affiliation:
Winthrop University

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Summary

Publishing in Mark Twain’s lifetime underwent several technological revolutions, and Twain was at the center of many of them. His work as a typesetter gave him insight into the publishing process, which changed from intense manual labor in his younger days to increased automation by his later years. For most of his books, rather than publish through traditional publishing houses, he used subscription publishing, which involved door-to-door salesmen who showed prospective books to customers who ordered them for later delivery. He became a publisher himself when he started his own firm in 1885, successful at first with the publication of Huckleberry Finn and Grant’s autobiography, but ultimately a failure.

Keywords

Mark Twain Samuel Clemens publishing printing book history technology typesetting Paige Compositor

Type: Chapter
Information: Mark Twain in Context , pp. 109 - 118

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108617208.013 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2020

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References

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