“You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus": First Edition of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
A Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.
Twain, Mark.
$2,000.00Item Number: 37051
New York: Charles L. Webster, 1889.
First edition, first printing of a 9th-century citizen of Hartford, Connecticut who awakens to find himself transported back in time to early medieval England. Octavo, original green pictorial cloth, gilt titles and tooling to the spine and front panel with both first edition, first printing issue points including the S-like ornament between the two word caption on page 59 and without broken type on page 72. In near fine condition.
Mark Twain wrote A Connecticut Yankee after reading Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur, exploring "a number of implicit parallels between Arthur's England and the American South: slavery; an agrarian economy which came into armed conflict with an industrial economy; a chivalric code which, Clemens said, was secondhand Walter Scott and kept the South mawkish, adolescent, verbose, and addicted to leatherheaded anachronisms like duels and tournaments. In both frameworks a civil war destroys the old order, and the Yankee has as acute a sense of loss as Mark Twain did" (Kaplan, 297).
Other Books by this Author
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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.
The Prince and the Pauper.
James R. Osgood and Company: New York, 1882.
First edition, first issue with uncorrected text; p. 124, line 1 reading “estate”; p. 263 “do not”; p. 362 “reigned.” Franklin Press imprint on verso of title page. Octavo, original publisher’s green pictorial cloth. In near fine condition with only light shelfwear. BAL 3402; Johnson p. 39-41.
Price: $2,000.00
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Rare first American edition, first printing, first state, of one of the Masterpieces of American literature, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Twain, Mark.
Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1876.
First edition, first printing, first state (with “THE” on half title in 10-point rather than 14-point type), peach endpapers, printed on wove paper, with preliminary matter paginated [I]-XVI and front and rear triple flyleaves of laid paper. BAL 3369. Johnson, 27-30. MacDonnell, 39-40. MacBride, 40. Octavo, original blue cloth, peach endpapers, top edge gilt. In very good condition with some very light rubbing to the cloth. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A nice example of an important book.
Price: $26,000.00
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“You cannot surprise an individual more than twice with the same marvel": First Edition of Mark Twain’s Life On The Mississippi
Twain, Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens).
Life On The Mississippi.
Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1883.
First edition, first state of this provocative portrait of the great Mississippi River with tailpiece of Twain in flames on p.441 still present and caption on p.443 corrected to read “The St. Charles Hotel.” Octavo, original brown cloth, gilt titles and tooling the spine and front panel, all edges gilt. In very good condition with reinforcement to the front and rear hinges and rubbing to the extremities.
Price: $850.00
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Mark Twain Signed Envelope From Berlin
Twain, Mark; Samuel Clemens.
Mark Twain Signed.
Addressed envelope in Mark Twain’s hand, which reads, “Mark Twain, Hotel Royal, Berlin. Col. McClure 21 Bedford Street, Strand London England.” Double matted and framed with a portrait of Twain. The entire piece measures 15 inches by 23 inches.
Price: $2,000.00
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Photograph of Mark Twain Signed
Twain, Mark (Samuel Clemens).
Mark Twain Signed Photograph.
1906.
Signed black and white photograph of Mark Twain in his trademark white three-piece suit seated. Signed by Mark Twain below the photograph on a mount. This photograph was taken in 1907 by the Wm. A. F. Bradley Company in New York, one of the most successful studio photographers in the world at that time, which Twain autographed and sold to raise funds for those affected by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Matted and framed, measures 17 inches by 29 inches.
Price: $7,200.00
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“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't": First Edition of Mark Twain's Following the Equator
Twain, Mark.
Following the Equator: A Journey Around the Globe.
Hartford, CT: 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. Frontispiece of Twain. Octavo, original blue cloth, mounted cover illustration. In fine condition.
Price: $900.00
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Rare first American edition, first printing, first state, of one of the masterpieces of American literature Tom Sawyer; Finely Bound
Twain, Mark; Samuel Langhorne Clemens.
Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1876.
First edition, first printing, first state (with “THE” on half title in 10-point rather than 14-point type), peach endpapers, printed on wove paper, with preliminary matter paginated [I]-XVI and front and rear triple flyleaves of laid paper. BAL 3369. Johnson, 27-30. MacDonnell, 39-40. MacBride, 40. Octavo, bound in full blue morocco, titles to the spine in gilt, gilt tooling to the front and rear panels, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt.
Price: $6,200.00
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“IN ORDER TO MAKE A MAN OR A BOY COVET A THING, IT IS ONLY NECESSARY TO MAKE THE THING DIFFICULT TO ATTAIN”: Rare first American edition, first printing of one of the masterpieces of American literature, Tom Sawyer; In the Original Publisher's Sheepskin
Twain, Mark.
Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1876.
First edition, first printing. Publisher’s library sheepskin. Octavo, original peach endpapers. Expertly rebacked to style, contemporary bookplate to the endpaper, some rubbing and wear to the extremities. Rare in the original sheepskin binding.
Price: $8,200.00
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"The adventure is over. Everything gets over, and nothing is ever enough. Except the part you carry with you:" Rare First Edition of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler; Signed by E.L. Konigsburg
Konigsburg, E. L.
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
New York: Atheneum, 1967.
First edition of the author’s Newbery Award-winning novel. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by E.L. Konigsburg on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Rare in this condition and signed.
Price: $7,500.00
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“Only God knows how much I love you”: First American Edition of the Love In The Time Of Cholera; Signed and dated by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel.
Love in the Time of Cholera.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988.
First American edition of the author’s work that ranks as one of the great novels of the last half of the twentieth century. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed and dated in 1990 by Garcia Marquez on the dedication page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $2,500.00
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Rare Uncorrected Proof of The Conservationist; Signed by Nadine Gordimer
Gordimer, Nadine.
The Conservationist.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1974.
Uncorrected British proof of the first edition of the author’s Booker Prize-winning novel. Octavo. Signed by the author on the title page. Good in wrappers as issued. An uncommon proof.
Price: $1,250.00
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Gordimer, Nadine.
My Son’s Story.
Johannesburg: Taurus, 1990.
First South African edition and true first edition. Octavo, blue boards. Signed by the author on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with only light shelf wear.
Price: $95.00