July 28 Wednesday – Elisha Bliss registered Innocents Abroad with the copyright office [Hirst, “A Note on the Text” Oxford Edition, 1996]. The book was published in a first edition of 20,000 copies. Over 100,000 copies would sell by three year’s end, for about a $19,000 royalty.

The Hartford Times was first out of the chute with a review of IA:

It is a lively, laughter-exciting book, such as one rarely meets among volumes of travels; yet the fun is not the only feature of the book. It abounds in interesting information, conveyed in a wide range of facts, adventures, and personal experiences….Mr Clemens contrives to give us new views of old scenes, many new facts, and decidedly new impressions (“New Book” in the Hartford Times, p2) [Budd, Reviews 35].