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FIRST EDITION OF MARK TWAIN'S ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN
TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade).
New York: Charles L. Webster and Company 1885.
First edition of Mark Twain’s masterpiece. Octavo, original publisher’s decorated green cloth, with 174 illustrations by Edward W. Kemble. Contains all of the agreed upon first issue points for the clothbound book: page 9 with “Decided” remaining uncorrected (to “Decides”); page 13, illustration captioned “Him and another Man” listed as on page 88; page 57, 11th line from bottom reads “with the was,” instead of “with the saw”. Other points of bibliographical interest included in this copy are the frontispiece portrait in first state with the cloth table cover under the bust, bearing the Heliotype Printing Co. imprint; copyright page dated 1884; page 143 with “l” missing from “Col.” at top of illustration and with broken “b” in “body” on line seven; page 155 with a larger final “5”; page 161, no signature mark “11”. As to issue points resulting from damaged plates (e.g. the dropped “5” on p 155), MacDonnell concludes, “they are of no significance in determining the sequence of the printing of the sheets. All of these occur at random in relation to each other within copies of the first printing, a strong indicator of the use of multiple plates, and possibly mixed sheets within the collating process” (“Huck Finn” Firsts Magazine). In near fine condition with an ownership stamp to the front free endpaper. An exceptional example of this landmark work in American literature.
Price: $8,800.00 Item Number: 145700
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"THE MOST PRAISED AND MOST CONDEMNED 19TH-CENTURY AMERICAN WORK OF FICTION": FIRST ENGLISH EDITION OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, PRECEDING THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION
MARK TWAIN; [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS],.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade).
London: Chatto & Windus 1884.
First English edition, preceding the first American edition, of “the most praised and most condemned 19th-century American work of fiction” (Legacies of Genius). Octavo, original decorative red cloth stamped in black and lettered in gilt, patterned endpapers, illustrated from 174 drawings by E. W. Kemble. Binding was originally in BAL’s state “B”, with the gatherings secured with wire staples; this copy has been recased, presumably in the original cloth with the wire staples removed and replaced with the more conventional thread. Additionally, cloth has been expertly restored, especially at the spine tips and corners, with some red bleeding to the top corner of the front pastedown. BAL states priority between the two binding states unknown. Ads at rear dated October 1884. BAL 3414. The English edition of Huckleberry Finn preceded the American by a few months and was made from sheets sent by American edition publisher Webster. In very good condition.
Price: $2,250.00 Item Number: 146372
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"Be good and you will be lonesome": First Edition of Mark Twain's Following the Equator
TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].
Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World.
Hartford, Connecticut: The American Publishing Company 1897.
First edition, first issue of the author’s pointed social critique of British Imperialism with the signature mark “11” on page 161. Octavo, bound in three quarter crushed levant navy morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, ribbon bound in, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Twain, illustrated by Dan Beard, A. B. Frost, B.W. Clinedisnt, and Frederick Dielman among others. In near fine condition.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 146301
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"WE WENT SLIPPING SILENTLY ALONG, BETWEEN THE GREEN AND FRAGRANT BANKS, WITH A SENSE OF PLEASURE AND CONTENTMENT THAT GREW AND GREW": FIRST EDITION OF MARK TWAIN'S A TRAMP ABROAD
TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].
A Tramp Abroad.
Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company 1880.
First edition of Twain’s classic fictionalized account of his walking tour of central and southern Europe, early issue with the portrait in BAL state B (no priority), frontispiece in the first state (captioned “Moses”), state A of the text block (no priority), and the cover stamping in state A. Octavo. 631, [1, ad] pages. Octavo, original publisher’s pictorial gilt-stamped brown cloth, with 328 illustrations by Walter Francis Brown, True Williams, W.W. Denslow. BAL 3386. In very good condition.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 144227
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The Innocents Abroad; Signed by Mark Twain
TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].
The Innocents Abroad, Or The New Pilgrims’ Progress.
New York: Harper & Brothers 1905.
Uniform edition of the author’s second book, one of the best-selling travel books of all-time. Octavo, original cloth, gilt titles to the spine, engraved frontispiece and photographic portrait with facsimile signature. Signed by the author “Truly yours Mark Twain” to the front pastedown. In very good condition, name to the front free endpaper. Housed in a custom full morocco clamshell box.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 144202
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“You cannot surprise an individual more than twice with the same marvel": First Edition, first state of Mark Twains Life On The Mississippi in the publisher's original full sheep
TWAIN, MARK [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].
Life On The Mississippi.
Boston: James R. Osgood and Company 1883.
First American edition, first state of this provocative portrait of the great Mississippi River with tailpiece of Twain in flames on p. 441 and “The St. Louis Hotel” caption on p. 443. Octavo, original publisher’s deluxe full sheep with morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, illustrated. In very good condition, rebacked. Uncommon.
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 142314
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“Learning softeneth the heart and breedeth gentleness and charity": First Edition of Mark Twain's Classic The Prince and the Pauper
TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].
The Prince and the Pauper.
James R. Osgood and Company: New York 1882.
First edition, early state of this classic work. BAL 3402. Johnson p. 39-41. Octavo, original publisher’s green pictorial cloth decorated in gilt, with one hundred and ninety-two illustrations. In good condition.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 140372
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Rare unauthorized edition of Mark Twain's Autobiography (Burlesque) First Romance, and Memoranda
TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].
Autobiography (Burlesque) First Romance, and Memoranda.
Toronto: James Campbell & Son [1871].
Rare unauthorized edition of Twain’s witty collection of satirical sketches; this edition possibly containing the first appearance of My Late Senatorial Secretaryship. BAL 3334. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth. In very good condition. Rare.
Price: $375.00 Item Number: 137267
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First Edition of Samuel L. Clemens' The Curious Republic of Gondour
TWAIN, MARK [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].
The Curious Republic of Gondour and Other Whimsical Sketches.
New York: Boni and Liveright 1919.
First edition of Twain’s classic collection of humorous sketches. Octavo, original half cloth over paper-covered boards. In near fine condition. Period ownership inscription.
Price: $275.00 Item Number: 137388