- description
- # Preface
## Overview
This entity is a digital representation of the **preface** to *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete* (arke:01KG16N2K9058F4BVCSK7DDWHH), a novel by Mark Twain. The preface spans lines 461 to 486 in the source text file *tom_sawyer.txt* (arke:01KG0K71QZ8KK7RGEGSNTB5534) and was extracted automatically as part of a structured document processing workflow. It is included in the **More Classics** collection (arke:01KFXT0KM64XT6K8W52TDEE0YS), which curates notable works of Western literature.
## Context
The preface immediately follows the [Contents](arke:01KG16PT4502WFZRWRZRBJDXF2) section and precedes [CHAPTER I](arke:01KG16PT507GNZ431M45GNQMC2) in the novel’s structure. It was extracted from a plain-text version of the book originally sourced from Project Gutenberg and processed through an automated system managed by the **Structure Extraction** service (arke:01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H). The document reflects editorial decisions made during digitization, including structural segmentation into frontmatter, chapters, and backmatter.
## Contents
The preface, authored by Mark Twain and dated **Hartford, 1876**, clarifies that most of the adventures in the novel are based on real events—some drawn from the author’s own childhood, others from the experiences of his schoolmates. It explains that the characters of **Huck Finn** and **Tom Sawyer** are composites of real individuals, with Tom representing a blend of three boys Twain knew. The author notes that the superstitions described were common among children and enslaved people in the American Midwest several decades prior. He also states his dual audience: while the book is intended for children, he hopes adults will read it as a nostalgic reflection on their own youth—what they felt, thought, said, and the “queer enterprises” they undertook.
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- 2026-01-28T02:33:29.116Z
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- Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507
- description_title
- Preface
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- 486
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- 2026-01-28T02:25:19.174Z
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- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 461
- text
- PREFACE
Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two
were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates
of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an
individual—he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom
I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture.
The odd superstitions touched upon were all prevalent among children and
slaves in the West at the period of this story—that is to say, thirty or
forty years ago.
Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and
girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account,
for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what
they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked,
and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.
THE AUTHOR.
HARTFORD, 1876.
- title
- Preface