Mark Twain’s affiliation with The Atlantic and with its editor, William Dean Howells, changed the trajectory of the author’s career—and the tone of the magazine. Twain’s Atlantic stories, collected here for the very first time, include essays, recollections, short fiction, and even the memoir Old Times on the Mississippi, which appeared in seven installments and was later released as the book Life on the Mississippi.

 

The Mark Twain Collection features an introduction by the Twain biographer Ben Tarnoff, in which he explores the relationship with Howells that elevated Twain into a transformative literary figure. The Mark Twain Collection is the first e-book in a new series of exclusive archival collections that will spotlight some of the most-celebrated contributors since the magazine’s founding in 1857.