American Publishing Company's first edition of Tom Sawyer was
produced in Hartford by the APC, but also apparently  by Anton Roman
in San Francisco;  Roughing It was published (according to one title
page) in Hartford, Chicago, Toledo, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Boston,
and SF.  Publishers listed for RI include  APC, F G Gilman, W E
Bliss, Nettleton & Co, George M Smith, and A Roman.

My questions have to do with the technology and strategy of this
multi-site publishing, if that's what these title pages indicate.
Are these editions to be regarded as identical?   Were electrotypes
being shipped out from Hartford to these other publishers, or was
typesetting for these various print-runs wholly or partly
independent?   Were completed bindings for the volumes shipped
nationwide as well from a single source, or were they stamped and
finished at various sites?     Does anyone know when the APC began
this multi-site strategy, and how many MT volumes were produced in
this manner?  I haven't found information about this in published
sources about the APC and MT, and would be grateful for leads.

Bruce Michelson
University of Illinois