''Mark Twain's Library of Humor'' is an 1888

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

of short humorous works compiled by

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has pr ...

, pen name of

Samuel Langhorne Clemens Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has pr ...

William Dean Howells William Dean Howells (; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ...

and Charles Hopkins Clark. In 1880, George Gebbie suggested to Mark Twain that he publish an anthology of humorous works. The idea evolved into a project financed by Clemens to produce an anthology of American humor with himself as editor and Howells and Clark assisting. Clemens did the least work on the project but remained in control and had the final say in everything. He realized how minor his role had been and wanted to put Howells's name on the title page. Still, a legal agreement with

Harper and Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

that Howells' name would only appear on their publications prevented this. Harper and Brothers wanted US$2,500 (approximately $50,000 with inflation) for a release, compelling Howells to sign the Introduction as "The Associate Editors." The book was published in 1888 by Charles L. Webster & Company. When that firm collapsed in 1894, Harper and Brothers took over the publication of all of Clemens' works. The ''Library of Humor'' was a valuable piece, containing many

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

ed works by many distinguished and popular authors. Secretary of Harper and Brothers Frederick A. Duneka had it revamped and expanded by Burges Johnson for a multi-volume revival in 1906. The title and Apology were kept, but the result was wildly different (Clemens's reaction is suggested by the title of Johnson's Fall 1937 article in the ''Mark Twain Quarterly'', "When Mark Twain Cursed Me"); so different that one authority has said that it should have been called ''The Harper Library of Humor''.

External links

* ''Mark Twain's Library of Humor'' on Wikisource (Work in progress) * {{William Dean Howells 1888 books Books by Mark Twain Works by William Dean Howells