Page "The Red Badge of Courage" Paragraph 7

The title of Crane's original, 55, 000-word manuscript was " Private Fleming / His various battles ", but in order to create the sense of a less traditional Civil War narrative, he ultimately changed the title to The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War.

In early 1894, Crane submitted the manuscript to S. S. McClure, who held on to it for six months without publication.

Frustrated, the author asked for the manuscript to be returned, after which he gave it to Irving Bacheller in October.

An abbreviated version of Crane's story was first serialized in The Philadelphia Press in December 1894.

This version of the story — which was culled to 18, 000 words by an editor specifically for the serialization — was reprinted in newspapers across America, establishing Crane's fame.

Crane biographer John Berryman wrote that the story was published in at least 200 small city dailies and approximately 550 weekly papers.

In October 1895, a version — which was 5, 000 words shorter than the original manuscript — was printed in book form by D. Appleton & Company.

This version of the novel differed greatly from Crane's original manuscript ; the deletions were thought by some scholars to be due to demands by an Appleton employee who was afraid of public disapproval of the novel's content.

Parts of the original manuscript removed from the 1895 version include all of the twelfth chapter, as well as the endings to chapters seven, ten and fifteen.