<P> He had earlier written an unpublished memoir of his own life on the Mississippi and corresponded with a boyhood friend, Will Bowen, that had evoked many memories and was used as a source of material . </P> <P> Twain named his fictional character after a San Francisco fireman whom he met in June 1863 . The real Tom Sawyer was a local hero, famous for rescuing 90 passengers after a shipwreck . The two remained friendly during Twain's three - year stay in San Francisco, often drinking and gambling together . </P> <P> In November 1875 Twain gave the manuscript to Elisha Bliss of the American Publishing Company, who sent it to True Williams for the illustrations . A little later, Twain had the text also quickly published at Chatto and Windus of London, in June 1876, but without illustration . Pirate editions appeared very quickly in Canada and Germany . The American Publishing Company finally published its edition in December 1876, which was the first illustrated edition of Tom Sawyer . </P> <P> These two editions differ slightly . After completing his manuscript, Twain had a copy made of it . It is this copy which was read and annotated by his friend William Dean Howells . Twain then made his own corrections based on Howells comments which he later incorporated in the original manuscript, but some corrections escaped him . The English edition was based on this corrected copy, while the illustrated American edition was based on the original manuscript . To further complicate matters, Twain was personally concerned with the revision of the proofs of the American edition, which he did not do for the English edition . The American edition is therefore considered the authoritative edition . </P>

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