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  • First edition of Mark Twain's What Is Man?

    TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].

    What Is Man?

    London: Watts & Co 1910.

    First trade edition of this uncommon Twain title. Octavo, original cloth. From the library of leading Twain authority and publisher John Gerber with his bookplate to the pastedown. Gerber served as head of the English Department at the University of Iowa for many years following the end of World War II when American literature was beginning to replace the role of English literature in American schools and colleges. Gerber was instrumental in the publication of a new uniform edition of Mark Twain’s works, which was finally published as the Iowa-California edition of the Works of Mark Twain beginning in 1972, after several years frustrations including challenges from the MLA and United States government. What Is Man? was first published anonymously in a private edition of 250 copies in 1906. This edition, published months before his death, reveals Twain’s authorship for the first time. BAL In very good condition.

    Price: $475.00     Item Number: 137544

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  • First edition, first issue of Mark Twain's Punch, Brothers, Punch!; in the publisher's rare variant blue cloth

    TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].

    Punch, Brothers, Punch! and Other Sketches.

    New York: Slote, Woodman & Co 1898.

    First edition, first issue with the author’s name in Roman type on the title page, “health offi. . could” on the 4th line from the bottom of page 91, and 13 lines of text on page 101. BAL 3378. Octavo, original publisher’s bright blue cloth with gilt titles to the spine, pale yellow endpapers. In very good condition with rubbing to the crown of the spine. Rare and desirable in the publisher’s variant blue cloth.

     

     

     

     

    Price: $500.00     Item Number: 137252

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  • First edition of Mark Twain's The American Claimant

    TWAIN, MARK [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].

    The American Claimant.

    New York: Charles L. Webster 1892.

    First edition of Twain’s comedy of mistaken identities with the publication date on both the title and copyright page. BAL 3434. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth, frontispiece and 25 in-text illustrations by Dan Beard. In very good condition.

    Price: $350.00     Item Number: 137138

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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, first state of Twain’s classic fictionalized account of his walking tour of central and southern Europe. Octavo, original publisher’s pictorial gilt-stamped brown cloth, with 328 illustrations by Walter Francis Brown, True Williams, W.W. Denslow, and with four ‘pictures made by the author of this book, without outside help’ with the first state frontispiece captioned “Moses” and state A of the text-block. BAL 3386. In fine condition. Small bookplate and ownership name. Housed in a custom slipcase. An exceptional example of this American classic, easily the nicest we have seen.

    Price: $5,000.00     Item Number: 136080

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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; From the library of William Safire

    TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].

    The Prince and the Pauper.

    James R. Osgood and Company: New York 1882.

    First edition, second state with the Franklin Press imprint on the copyright page and corrected text on page 124 line 1 (corrected from estate to state). BAL 3402. Johnson p. 39-41. Octavo, original publisher’s green pictorial cloth decorated in gilt, with one hundred and ninety-two illustrations. From the library of William Safire with his bookplate to the pastedown. William Safire was an important American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He joined Nixon’s campaign for the 1960 Presidential race, and supported him again in 1968. After Nixon’s 1968 victory, Safire served as a speechwriter for him and Spiro Agnew. He authored several political columns in addition to his weekly column “On Language” in The New York Times Magazine from 1979 until the month of his death and authored two books on grammar and linguistics: The New Language of Politics (1968) and what Zimmer called Safire’s “magnum opus,” Safire’s Political Dictionary. Safire later served as a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board from 1995 to 2004 and in 2006 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush. In good condition.

     

     

    Price: $1,600.00     Item Number: 127482

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  • The Adventures of tom sawyer; finely bound in full crushed red morocco

    TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL CLEMENS].

    The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

    London: J.M. Dent & Sons 1969.

    Finely bound edition of Twain’s masterpiece. Octavo, bound in full crushed red morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, double gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation of Twain’s masterpiece.

    Price: $1,800.00     Item Number: 134505

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  • MARK TWAIN'S (BURLESQUE) AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND FIRST ROMANCE

    TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].

    Mark Twain’s (Burlesque) Autobiography and First Romance.

    New York: Sheldon & Company n.d.

    First edition, second issue of Twain’s third book with the Ball, Black, & Co. advertisement on verso of the title page (BAL 3326). Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles to the spine, illustrated and extra-illustrated with a tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece of Twain. In good condition.

    Price: $200.00     Item Number: 138264

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  • Mark Twain's The Gilded Age: A Tale of To-Day; from the library of Arthur Balfour's younger brother Cecil Balfour and subsequently American journalist William Safire

    TWAIN, MARK [SAMUEL CLEMENS] AND CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER.

    The Gilded Age: A Tale of To-Day.

    Hartford: American Publishing Company 1878.

    Early printing of Twain and Dudley’s satirical work on greed and political corruption in post-Civil War America which has appeared in more than 100 editions since its original publication. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, fully illustrated from new designs by Hoppins, Stephens, Williams, White, et al. In very good condition. Bound for and from the library of Cecil C. Balfour, the younger brother of Arthur Balfour. British Conservative statesman Arthur Balfour served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As foreign secretary in the Lloyd George ministry, he issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917 on behalf of the cabinet. Subsequently, from the library of William Safire, although not marked. William Safire was an important American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He joined Nixon’s campaign for the 1960 Presidential race, and again in 1968. After Nixon’s 1968 victory, Safire served as a speechwriter for him and Spiro Agnew. He authored several political columns in addition to his weekly column “On Language” in The New York Times Magazine from 1979 until the month of his death and authored two books on grammar and linguistics: The New Language of Politics (1968) and what Zimmer called Safire’s “magnum opus,” Safire’s Political Dictionary. Safire later served as a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board from 1995 to 2004 and in 2006 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush. In very good condition.

    Price: $750.00     Item Number: 127448

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  • Mark Twain's Roughing It; Inscribed by him to Mrs. P. T. Barnum

    TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].

    Roughing It.

    Hartford: American Publishing Company 1874.

    Early printing of Twain’s first semi-autobiographical work of travel literature, essentially a prequel to The Innocents Abroad. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles to the spine, fully illustrated by eminent artists with wood engravings throughout. Association copy, inscribed by Mark Twain on the fly-leaf, “For Mrs. P. T. Barnum with kindest wishes of Samuel L. Clemens Oct. 1875.” The recipient, Nancy Fish, was the second wife of American showman P. T. Barnum. Twain and Barnum were, by various accounts, friends, mutual admirers and rivals. After visiting Barnum’s American Business Museum in New York City as a teenager, Twain criticized it as “one vast peanut stand” yet upon the opening of Barnum’s Hippodrome in 1875, he remarked, “I hardly know which to wonder at most—its stupendousness, or the pluck of the man who has dared to venture upon so vast an enterprise. I mean to come to see the show,— but to me you are the biggest marvel connected with it.” He alluded to Barnum frequently in both his published works and private correspondence, and although he received many invitations from Barnum to dine in New York, he always declined. Barnum even proposed that the two collaborate on an anthology of “queer literature” based on letters he received from strangers hoping to join his circus, but Twain expressed little interest in the project. In 1867, Twain published “Barnum’s First Speech in Congress”, a satire of Reconstruction politics that painted Barnum as a ruthless exploiter of the performers he employed. Twain referred to the work as a “spiritual telegraph” delivered “to [him] in advance from the spirit world” and was certain that Barnum would never be elected to high office. Barnum was married to Charity Hallett from 1829 until her death in 1873, and they had four children. In 1874, a few months after his wife’s death, he married Nancy Fish, his friend’s daughter who was 40 years his junior. They were married until 1891 when Barnum died of a stroke at his home. He was buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, which he designed himself. In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An outstanding association copy.

    Price: $30,000.00     Item Number: 133025

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  • First edition of The Innocents Abroad; inscribed by Mark Twain to Mrs. P. T. Barnum

    TWAIN, MARK. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS].

    The Innocents Abroad, Or The New Pilgrims’ Progress.

    Hartford: American Publishing Company 1874.

    First edition, second issue of the author’s second book, one of the best-selling travel books of all-time. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles to the spine, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, with two hundred and thirty-four illustrations. Association copy, inscribed by Mark Twain on the fly-leaf, “To Mrs. P. T. Barnum from Yours Truly Samuel L. Clemens Mark Twain Oct 1875.” The recipient, Nancy Fish, was the second wife of American showman P. T. Barnum. Twain and Barnum were, by various accounts, friends, mutual admirers and rivals. After visiting Barnum’s American Business Museum in New York City as a teenager, Twain criticized it as “one vast peanut stand” yet upon the opening of Barnum’s Hippodrome in 1875, he remarked, “I hardly know which to wonder at most—its stupendousness, or the pluck of the man who has dared to venture upon so vast an enterprise. I mean to come to see the show,— but to me you are the biggest marvel connected with it.” He alluded to Barnum frequently in both his published works and private correspondence, and although he received many invitations from Barnum to dine in New York, he always declined. Barnum even proposed that the two collaborate on an anthology of “queer literature” based on letters he received from strangers hoping to join his circus, but Twain expressed little interest in the project. In 1867, Twain published “Barnum’s First Speech in Congress”, a satire of Reconstruction politics that painted Barnum as a ruthless exploiter of the performers he employed. Twain referred to the work as a “spiritual telegraph” delivered “to [him] in advance from the spirit world” and was certain that Barnum would never be elected to high office. Barnum was married to Charity Hallett from 1829 until her death in 1873, and they had four children. In 1874, a few months after his wife’s death, he married Nancy Fish, his friend’s daughter who was 40 years his junior. They were married until 1891 when Barnum died of a stroke at his home. He was buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, which he designed himself. In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An outstanding association copy.

    Price: $35,000.00     Item Number: 133104

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