The first version is a combination of two manuscripts.

The first section may be called the "Pre-Eseldorf" pages but it is also known as the "St. Petersburg Fragment." It is a manuscript of nineteen pages and was written in September and October of 1897.What sets this section off from part B is that it is set in St. Petersburg. It was set in the 1840's, which was later changed, and the characters are introduced but with different names compared to later versions. The characters of Pole, Huck, and Tom were later changed to Theodor, Nikolaus, and Seppi. Included are a few scenes with the boys and two scenes with the young Satan.

The second part of the first version was written shortly after but continued until September of 1900. It is known as "The Chronicle of Young Satan" or "Elsedorf." It is set in the early eighteenth century and like the final publication, in a village in Austria. This village, the name not revealed in Paine's publication, is called Elsedorf in this version. It includes the three boys, their encounters with Satan, and many scenes involving the people of the village and their encounters with Satan and the narrator, Theodor.

Twain returned to his manuscript in 1899 and added a few extra scenes. He also created conversations between the boys and Satan about the Moral Sense. Satan believes that humans are silly because of this idea of the Moral Sense. No other species holds such an idea of right and wrong and Satan criticizes it heavily.