Why did Mark Twain publish Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc anonymously?

Mark Twain published his novel Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc anonymously because he was frustrated by the public's perception of him as merely a "funnyman." He hoped that by omitting his famous pen name, readers would take the work more seriously.1

This strategy was ultimately unsuccessful, as his authorship became widely known shortly after the book's serialization. When the novel was released in book form in 1896, his name was included on the spine, though it remained absent from the title page.1