Released in 1894 by the American Publishing Co. First edition had 432 pages; small illustrations lined the outer and bottom margins of every page.			Mark Twain's last American fictional novel, although historical fictions, travelogues, and short stories followed this book.
Pudd'nhead Wilson originally ran in seven installments of the Century magazin from December 1893 to June 1894.				Unique among Twain's novels in that it gives specific dates in which the action takes place, namely February 1830 to late 1853.
Twain wrote Those Extraordinary Twins in 1892, inspired by seeing Siamese twins while in Europe; early in 1893, he changed the title to Pudd'nhead Wilson — A Tale; by the mid-1893, Twain did a extensive editing job to book, modifying the story of the twins to focus more on other characters; in the American Publishing Co. release in 1894, he included the revised Pudd'nhead Wilson, and added, as an appendix, a large portion of the original Those Extraordinary Twins manuscript, with minor revisions.

There was a voiceless interval of some duration, now, in which no sounds were heard but the beating of the rain upon the panes, the sighing and complaining of the winds, and now and then a muffled sob from Roxana. The sobs became more and more infrequent, and at last ceased. Then the refugee began to talk again:
"Shet down dat light a little. More. More yit. A pusson dat is hunted don't like de light. Dah-dat'll do. I kin see whah you is, en dat's enough. I's gwine to tell you de tale, en cut it jes as short as I kin, en den I'll tell you what you's got to do. Dat man dat bought me ain't a bad man; he's good enough, as planters goes; en if he could'a' had his way I'd 'a' be'n a house servant in his fambly en be'n comfortable: but his wife she was a Yank, en not right down good lookin', en she riz up agin me straight off; so den dey sent me out to de quarter 'mongst de common fiel' han's. Dat woman warn't satisfied even wid dat, but she worked up de overseer ag'in' me, she 'uz dat jealous en hateful; so de overseer he had me out befor' day in de mawnin's en worked me de whole long day as long as dey'uz any light to see by; en many's de lashin's I got 'ca'se I couldn't come up to de work o' de stronges'. Dat overseer wuz a Yank, too, outen New Englan', and anybody down South kin tell you what dat mean. Dey knows how to work a nigger to death, en day knows how to whale 'em, too-whale 'em till dey backs is welted like a washboard. 'Long at fust my marster day de good word for me to de overseer, but dat'uz bad for me; for de mistis she fine it out, en arter dat I jist ketched it at every turn-dey warn't no mercy for me no mo'."

Each chapter of Pudd'nhead Wilson begins with maxims from Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar, which were small calendars published as part of Century magazine's installments; maxims from Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar are used as chapter headings in Following The Equator, and in several other stories.
Twain was inspired by the Tocci brothers of Italy, two men sharing a single body from their rib cage down; Twain's first piece about siamese twins was Personal Habits of the Siamese Twins in 1875's Sketches: New and Old, which is a spoof of the real life Chang and Eng Bunker.				When it was believed that the character of Pudd'nhead Wilson was inspired by Theodore Wilson, a governor of the New York Stock Exchange, a petition was circulated there to have him removed.
Twain was the first author to use fingerprints as a plot device; although fingerprinting as a criminal investigatory method was becoming legitimized at the time of the novel's writing, in 1892, it wasn't known about in 1853, when the action takes place.

Pudd'nhead Wilson begins in Dawson's Landing, Missouri, on a day in February 1830. Two children are born in the town on this day - one to the wife of Percy Driscoll, and one to his slave Roxana. Mrs. Driscoll soon dies, and Roxana is given care of both babies. Later on in the month, a Eastern lawyer named David Wilson arrives in town; he is given the name Pudd'nhead after making a foolish remark upon his arrival.

Driscoll threatens Roxy with selling her down the river for thefts that have taken place, so Roxy switches her baby with Driscoll's. Their nearly identical appearance aids her scheme. Roxy's baby is only 1/32 black, and is indistinguishable from a white baby. At this time, Wilson takes the babies' fingerprints.

The two boys - Tom and Chambers - grow up. Tom Driscoll, Roxy's son before the switch, becomes a cruel master to Roxy, and is abusive to her. Percy Driscoll dies, freeing Roxy from slavery, and Tom and Chambers go to live with Percy's brother, Judge Driscoll.

Meanwhile, two Italian brothers, Angelo and Luigi Capello, arrive in the town to boarder with the widow Patsy Cooper and her two sons. The twins are popular in town immediately, and are deemed nobility. The lawyer Wilson becomes friendly with the two brothers.

In the meantime, Roxy retuns to Dawson's Landing, which she left eight years earlier. She tells Tom that he is really her son, and he must split his monthly allowance with her or she will spill the beans to the town. By this time, Tom is an accomplished thief, who raids the houses in town for loot.

At the meeting of a local anti-temperance society, Luigi Capello kicks Tom off the stage, after Tom makes a rude pun. Tom takes Luigi to court on personal assault charges, and wins the case; his uncle and Wilson are disappointed that Tom didn't challenge Luigi to a duel. Judge Driscall and Luigi arrange a duel, which takes place that night. Meanwhile, the robberies in Tom are being investigated.

The day after the duel, the twins are honored for taking place in the duel. Tom and Roxy go to St. Louis, where she devises a plan whereby Tom will sell her upcountry and make $600 for his gambling debts. Tom decieves her, though, and sells her down river, to an Arkansas farmer.

Roxy escapes from the farmer and returns to St. Louis, where she confronts Tom. She forces Tom to pay for her freedom by giving the farmer all the money he received for her. Tom decides to rob his uncle to get the money.

During the robbery, Tom kills his uncle with the Capello's knife. The twins rush to the judge's side, and become the main suspects in the murder. Wilson, in the meantime, searches his collection of fingerprints for a match with those on the knife.

During the trial, Wilson uncovers his theory of the crime, and shows how the fingerprints on the knife don't match those of the twins. Wilson goes on to prove that Roxy and Mrs. Driscoll's babies were switched at birth, and Tom is lead away in handcuffs.

The real Driscoll is now given his rightful inheritance, but he is hindered by illiteracy, and a slave dialect and mannerisms. Tom is pardoned and sold to slaveowners downriver.