1885 in literature

See also: 1884 in literature, other events of 1885, 1886 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• February 18 – Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time
• May 19 – Revised Version Old Testament published.

New books

• After London – Richard Jefferies
• Bel-Ami – Guy de Maupassant
• Diana of the Crossways – George Meredith
• Germinal – Emile Zola
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
• Jacques Vingtras – Jules Vallés
• Marius the Epicurean – Walter Pater
• Mathias Sandorf – Jules Verne
• Prince Otto – Robert Louis Stevenson
• Rise of Sylas Lapham – William Dean Howells
• She's All the World to Me – Hall Caine
• A Tangled Tale – Lewis Carroll
• The Shadow of a Crime – Hall Caine

Births

• February 7 – Sinclair Lewis, novelist (+ 1951)
• March 6 – Ring Lardner, writer (+ 1933)
• September 11 – D.H. Lawrence, author (+ 1930)

Deaths

• February 14 – Jules Vallés, French writer
• April 8 – Susanna Moodie, English-born author of "Canadiana"
• May 22 – Victor Hugo, French author

Awards