first edition Hardcover
1885 · New York
by TWAIN, Mark [CLEMENS, Samuel]
New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885. First Edition. Hardcover. Hinges fine; some rubbing to gilt on the spine and a little to the cloth, mostly to the rear cover. Contents lightly foxed. Light wear to spine tips and corners. Very Good or better. Original decorated green cloth. With 174 illustrations by E. W. Kemble. BAL 3415: With first issue points of pages 13, 57, and 143; second issue of title page, frontispiece, and page 155; and fourth issue of page 283. Also with McBride's first issue point on page 143. Recent Twain scholarship convincingly establishes three changes from the printing plates of the first printing of 30,000 copies and later printings: 1) an erroneous page reference "88" on page 13 later changed to "87" (BAL's point 2); 2) the misprint "with the was" on page 57 later corrected to "with the saw" (BAL's point 3); and 3) the misprint "Decided" on page 9 later changed to "Decides" (not noted by BAL). This copy has all three first printing points. Nineteenth century pink paper bookplate on the front pastedown with the word "Wing" and the number "1783." (Inventory #: 003993)