- description
- # Preface
## Overview
This entity is a digital representation of the **preface** to the novel *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer* by Mark Twain. It exists as a structured text segment extracted from line 461 to line 486 of the source file `tom_sawyer.txt`. The preface was digitally identified and processed on January 28, 2026, as part of a structured document extraction workflow. It is classified as a "preface" within the archival system and serves as an introductory statement from the author.
## Context
The preface is part of the larger work [The Adventures of Tom Sawyer](arke:01KG2TP9MA26GMS73H3R2KPN3R), a classic American novel first published in 1876. This digital segment was extracted from the plain text file [tom_sawyer.txt](arke:01KG2T4RHC4E1XKJ12BJRXE8E8), which is housed within the [Test Collection](arke:01KG2T49K0H5GDRB0G4YDTPG8H). It follows the [Contents](arke:01KG2TRBFZM2K5GT5NNQ7573Q9) section and directly precedes [CHAPTER I](arke:01KG2TRBQA57AX3MFN3QWW1GSS) in the book's structure, forming a key transitional element in the front matter.
## Contents
The preface contains a brief but significant statement from "THE AUTHOR" (Mark Twain), clarifying that most of the adventures in the book are based on real events—some drawn from his own experiences, others from those of his childhood peers. It explains that the characters Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer are based on real people, with Tom being a composite of three boys Twain knew. The author notes that the superstitions described were common among children and enslaved people in the American West several decades prior. Twain also addresses adult readers, expressing hope that they will not dismiss the book due to its appeal to youth, as one of his aims is to "pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves." The preface is dated "HARTFORD, 1876," providing historical context for the novel's publication.
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-28T17:38:26.893Z
- description_model
- Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507
- description_title
- Preface
- end_line
- 486
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-28T17:34:54.482Z
- extracted_by
- 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