Although Mark Twain had a typewriter in the 1870s, he did not submit
typed printer's copy of any of his books until *Life on the
Mississippi*. He had had the manuscript of *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer*
hand copied by an amanuensis--the original went to the American
Publishing Company (it is now in the Georgetown University Library), and
the amanuensis copy went to Chatto and Windus for the English edition (it
is now at the Mark Twain Memorial Shrine in Florida, Mo.).

Here is a copy of Mark Twain's testimonial letter (typed on an
all-capitals typewriter and dated 24 April 1883) to the typist of
*Life on the Mississippi*:

                                        HARTFORD, APRIL 24TH, 1883.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:--
                THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT MR. H. M. CLARKE COPIED A GREAT
PORTION OF MY FORTHCOMING BOOK "LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI," FOR ME ON A
TYPE-WRITER; THAT THIS WAS THE FIRST COPYING DONE FOR ME ON THE
TYPE-WRITER; THAT PREVIOUSLY MY BOOKS HAD BEEN COPIED FOR THE PRESS WITH
THE PEN EXCLUSIVELY.
        THIS EXPERIENCE WITH THE TYPE-WRITER HAS BEEN OF SO HIGH A VALUE
TO ME THAT NOT EVEN THE TYPE-WRITER ITSELF CAN DESCRIBE IT. IT HAS
BANISHED ONE OF THE PRIME SORROWS OF MY LIFE. AFTER ONE HAS READ A
CHAPTER OR TWO OF HIS LITERATURE IN THE TYPE-WRITER CHARACTER, THE PAGES
OF THE SHEETS BEGIN TO LOOK NATURAL, AND RATIONAL, AND AS VOID OF OFFENSE
TO HIS EYE AS DO HIS OWN WRITTEN PAGES; THEREFORE HE CAN ALTER AND AMEND
THEM WITH COMFORT AND FACILITY; BUT THIS IS NEVER THE CASE WITH A BOOK
COPIED BY PEN. THE PEN PAGES HAVE A FOREIGN AND UNSYMPATHETIC LOOK, AND
THIS THEY NEVER LOSE. ONE CANNOT RECOGNIZE HIMSELF IN THEM. THE EMENDING
AND REVAMPING OF ONE'S LITERATURE IN THIS FORM IS AS BARREN OF INTEREST
[here MT added a handwritten:] , and indeed as repellent, AS IF IT WERE
THE LITERATURE OF A STRANGER AND AN ENEMY. MY COPYING IS ALWAYS DONE ON A
TYPE-WRITER, NOW, AND I SHALL NOT BE LIKELY TO EVER USE ANY OTHER SYSTEM.
        I TAKE GREAT PLEASURE IN OFFERING THIS [here MT canceled
"TESTIMONIAL" and added:] testimony.
                                [signed:] S. L. Clemens
                                        (Mark Twain.)

The information can be found in various places, among them:

*The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,* ed. John C. Gerber and Paul Baender. Mark
Twain Library. University of California Press, 1982, pp. 272-73.

*The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom Sawyer Abroad, Tom Sawyer, Detective,*
ed. John C. Gerber, Paul Baender, and Terry Firkins. The Works of Mark
Twain. University of California Press, 1980, 1-30, and 503-16 passim.

*Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,* ed. Walter Blair and Victor Fischer.
The Works of Mark Twain. University of California Press, 1988, pp. xxxii,
433-34.

The typist and recipient of the testimonial letter was Harry M. Clarke of
Elmira. Mark Twain did use a typewriter for the Tom Sawyer play that he
worked on in the early 1880s, perhaps the reason for his later confusion
about which book was copied on a typewriter.

Yours sincerely,
Vic Fischer
Mark Twain Project