7 h 25 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 25 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when fortune, chance, and irony share the same page?
In The £1,000,000 Bank-Note and Other New Stories, Mark Twain brings together short tales of fortune, irony, and serendipity. Humour and satire shape the collection, inviting you to approach its grand title with curiosity—and a readiness to laugh.
The title story, The £1,000,000 Bank-Note, gives this collection its striking name. Alongside it are other stories that share the book’s interest in fortune and chance. Read for the humour, and stay for the ironic edge those themes promise.
What you’ll discover
- A fortune in the title Let the extraordinary bank-note draw you toward a tale with money at its heart.
- Chance worth following Explore serendipity as a thread running through this gathering of clever tales.
- An appetite for irony Meet stories that invite you to look for more than a straightforward account.
- Humour with an edge Enjoy the meeting of humour and satire in Mark Twain’s short fiction.
- Room for another story Move beyond the title tale into a collection linked by fortune, irony, and chance.
Who will love it
Readers who love a comic tale with a warm heart, a good joke at the expense of pompous people, and the sly, chatty voice of Mark Twain will enjoy this.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A fortune becomes a strange test
- The appearance of wealth wins trust
- A famous name opens new possibilities
- Coincidence invites belief and honest doubt
- Sincere failure can become comic pleasure
- Progress changes the romance of travel
- Mistakes and order both deserve laughter
- Ridicule exposes the limits of authority
- Laughter can carry a serious truth
Who’s who
- Henry AdamsA young San Francisco clerk stranded in London, who must live thirty days on a note he cannot spend and hopes to win a job.
- Portia LanghamA lively young Englishwoman who meets Henry at the minister's dinner, laughs at his troubles and agrees to stand beside him.
- The two brothersTwo elderly London gentlemen, one of them named Abel, who make a bet over what a stranger holding a million pounds will do.
- Lloyd HastingsHenry's friend from San Francisco, ruined in London while trying to sell a mine, who begs for a way out.
- Major ElfonzoThe fiddling war hero of McClintock's novel, who goes back to school and wants to marry Ambulinia against her father's wishes.
- Ambulinia ValeerA spirited young woman of sixteen who loves Elfonzo and tries again and again to run away to marry him.
- Squire ValeerAmbulinia's proud father, who forbids the match and guards his house all night with a rusty sword and an iron lever.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
The £1,000,000 Bank-Note and Other New Stories in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The £1,000,000 Bank-Note and Other New Stories
by Mark Twain · 1893
A starving American gets a million pound note and thirty days to survive London while staying out of jail.
Medium level2–5 hours to read2 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
Picture a starving young man on a London street, eyes fixed on a pear with one bite gone, lying in the gutter. He is too ashamed to pick it up.
The £1,000,000 Bank-Note and Other New Stories at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 15 min3 h 20 min fast, 5 h slow
- Length
- 60,300 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1893by Mark Twain
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two bored brothers bet on a stranger
Henry Adams, a young man who works for a mining broker in San Francisco, drifts out to sea in a small boat. A ship picks him up and takes him to England. He works his passage as a sailor and lands in London with one dollar. Two days later he is ragged, hungry and out of money.
On Portland Place he stares at a pear with one bite gone, lying in the gutter. Each time he moves toward it, a passerby glances his way, and he pretends he is not interested. Then a window rises and a gentleman asks him inside. Two elderly brothers sit among the leftovers of breakfast and ask him about his life.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1893
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 50 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Twain, Mark. The £1,000,000 Bank-Note and Other New Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-1-000-000-bank-note-and-other-new-stories.
Twain, M. (2026). The £1,000,000 bank-note and other new stories. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-1-000-000-bank-note-and-other-new-stories (Original work published 1893)
Twain, Mark. The £1,000,000 Bank-Note and Other New Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-1-000-000-bank-note-and-other-new-stories.
@book{twain20261000000,
author = {Twain, Mark},
title = {The £1,000,000 Bank-Note and Other New Stories},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-1-000-000-bank-note-and-other-new-stories},
note = {First published 1893}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The £1,000,000 Bank-Note and Other New Stories
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Million Pound Bank-Note about?
It tells of Henry Adams, a poor American stranded in London, whom two rich brothers lend a million pound note for thirty days to settle a bet. He cannot spend it, yet the rumor of it changes his life.
What is mental telegraphy in Mark Twain's essay?
It is Twain's name for thoughts passing from one mind to another across great distances, similar to what is now called telepathy. He backs it up with crossing letters, matching ideas and strange coincidences from his own life.
Is the novel in A Cure for the Blues a real book?
Twain presents it as a real pamphlet by G. Ragsdale McClintock, printed in 1845. He praises its mixed metaphors and empty speeches, then prints it in full, with the Georgia lovers Elfonzo and Ambulinia.
The author
Mark Twain
1835–1910 · American humorist and novelist
Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, an American author born in Missouri in 1835. He lived in Hartford, Connecticut, from 1874 to 1891. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Prince and the Pauper (1881). He died in Redding, Connecticut, in 1910.
More by Mark Twain
See all their booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
