This story, like many 19th-century works, appeared in newsprint before it was published as a book. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain (or Samuel Clemens if you prefer) was first published in the The Saturday Press in 1865. Twain’s story was originally commissioned by Artemus Ward as filler for an upcoming book, but due to Twain’s constant delay in finishing the story, and the publishing deadline fast approaching for Ward’s new book, Jumping Frog was passed on to the papers. It appeared once more in The Californian a few weeks later and was very popular with the reading public. Interestingly, both newsprint versions are just that, different versions and titles of basically the same story. I suppose Twain, like any good author, constantly revised and improved his work.
Essentially Twain’s first popular work, the 1st edition was printed in 1867, along with twenty-seven other short stories. There were only 1,000 copies, so finding an original to read would be a hefty financial proposition…unless of course, you get it from here: