Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade).

TWAIN, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens].

Item Number: 142862

New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885.

First edition, first issue of Mark Twain’s masterpiece with each of the three agreed upon first issue points for the clothbound book. Octavo, original publisher’s decorated green cloth, with 174 illustrations by Edward W. Kemble. With 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 with the tablecloth 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). BAL 3415; Grolier, 100 American. Presentation copy, inscribed by Samuel Clemens on the pastedown with a quote from Pudd’nhead Wilson, “Mr. Charles Aubrey Slosson his book. Consider well the proportions of things: it is better to be a young June-bug than an old bird of paradise. Truly yours Mark Twain Dec. /05.” With a later inscription by Twain’s friend Poultney Bigelow to the front free endpaper, “Don’t go to College if you seek knowledge of humanity – in my case I learned to row and box and sipped at the fountain of Youth – so be warned by your friend Poultney Bigelow  October 10 – 1945 at Malden on Hudson.” A close friend of Twain, Poultney Bigelow was as an American author and journalist. He traveled extensively, and wrote often on the subject. He was a London correspondent for several American publications and was correspondent for The Times (of London) in Cuba during the Spanish–American War. He was a voluminous correspondent with the leading figures of the day, including Roger Casement, Henry George, Mark Twain, Geraldine Farrar, Percy Grainger, Frederic Remington, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Israel Zangwill and George S. Viereck. In near fine condition with some light professional restoration to the extremities. Some small tears and creases to the first few pages. With a glossy card compliments of the Freeman Hotel in Auburn California with a printed Twain quote tipped in to the first blank. Housed in a custom half morocco and folding chemise slipcase. An exceptional example, signed and inscribed copies of Twain’s masterpiece are of the utmost rarity; first edition, first issues exceedingly so.

Written over an eight-year period, Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was controversial from the outset, attacked by critics for its crudeness, coarseness and vulgarity. Upon issue of the American edition in 1885, several libraries, including the Concord and Brooklyn Public Libraries, banned it from their shelves. Twain later remarked to his editor, "Apparently, the Concord library has condemned Huck as 'trash and only suitable for the slums.' This will sell us another twenty-five thousand copies for sure!" The book nevertheless emerged as one of the defining novels of American literature, prompting Hemingway to declare: "All modern literature comes from one book by Mark Twain. It's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing since."