Editor's note: Mark Twain's work "Huckleberry Finn," was completed in March of 1884, but wasn't published in the United States until Feb. 18, 1885. This article from the Post-Dispatch explains the delays in publishing the Missouri humorist's masterpiece. What the article doesn't detail is that the "indecent character" mentioned below, was a crudely drawn penis.

Hartford, Conn. - Nov. 27, 1884 - Mark Twain's new book, was completed last March, but owing to complications and differences with his publishers it has not yet appeared, although it has been extensively announced, a prospectus of the story sent out and the opening chapters recently published in the Century.

When the book was finished last month, Mark Twain made a proposition in regard to its publication to the American Publishing

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