Dickens, Charles
IS SHE HIS WIFE?
Dickens, Charles. IS SHE HIS WIFE? Boston: JamesR. Osgood, 1877. First American edition, firststate of binding with correct monogram. Originalterra cotta cloth, gilt. Mild rubbing at spineends, a couple of stray marks but a very goodbright copy of this scarce "comic burletta." In1876 James T. Fields acquired the only known copyof the original 1837 edition and used it toproduce this edition; his unique copy wasdestroyed when his library burned in December,1879. A British reprint, itself rarely seen,appeared in 1883. This volume was part of Osgood's102 volume vest-pocket series, which includedTwain's rare A TRUE STORY and several Hawthorne,Emerson, and Lowell titles that are also seldomseen. Books in this series were published only interra cotta or green cloth, with no prioritybetween the two colors, and the print runs ranfrom 500 to 1,250 copies per title. Kitton, MINORWRITINGS OF CHARLES DICKENS, pp. 207-10. Eckel, p.159. Podeschi B62.
More from Mac Donnell Rare Books
TICKET GOOD FOR STEAMSHIP AMERICA, SAN FRANCISCO TO NEW YORK
[TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] C. A. TransitCompany. TICKET GOOD FOR STEAMSHIP AMERICA, SANFRANCISCO TO NEW YORK, VIA NICARAGUA. SanFrancisco, Central American Transit Company, 1866.Oblong printed ticket blank with stub stillattached (4 x 12 inches). Fine. On December 15,1866, Twain boarded the "America" in SanFrancisco, steamed to Nicaragua, arriving onDecember 30, crossed the Isthmus, and boarded the`San Francisco' and steamed on to New York,arriving on January 12, where he soon publishedhis first book and began in earnest his literarycareer. See Kaplan's MR. CLEMENS, MARK TWAIN (p.13-19, beginning on the first page of text) for agood account of this historic moment. Also seeMeltzer, MARK TWAIN HIMSELF (pp.80-1) for a copyof the newspaper printing of the `America's'passenger list including Twain among the eightypassengers, and an account of the trip. It was onthis voyage that Twain met Captain `Ned' Wakeman(see BAL 3379) who was the model for Ned Blakelyin ROUGHING IT (1872), Captain Saltmarsh in THEAMERICAN CLAIMANT (1892), Captain Stormfield in1909, etc. (cf. Kaplan, SINGULAR MARK TWAIN, p.169) and whom Twain recalled fondly in hisautobiography. This ticket is the earliestobtainable Twain-related California imprint, otherthan a couple of very rare newspapers. BAL listsonly two imprints for Twain earlier than thisticket, both published in New York: the first is aunique copy of an 1865 twilight book, the other an1866 booklet with a Twain contribution (only twocopies sold in the last fifteen years, each formore than REPRESENTATIVE MEN
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. REPRESENTATIVE MEN. Boston:Phillips, Sampson, 1850. First edition, firstprinting, first binding. Original black cloth,gilt. Abrasion to front free endpaper, smallpoints of rubbing at spine tips and corners, elsea tight bright copy. A rare book in the correctfirst state (printed on thin paper; binding withhour-glass design on covers). Copies areinvariably found in the later printing andbinding; a few copies of the later printing havesurfaced in the first state binding, but copies inthe earliest state of binding and text are seldomencountered. Emerson's essay on Shakespeare, whichmakes its first appearance here, inspired HenryFolger to collect the works of the Bard. BAL 5219.Myerson A22.1.a. LECTURES OF BRET HARTE
Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] Harte, Bret. THELECTURES OF BRET HARTE. Brooklyn, New York:Charles Meeker Kozlay, 1909. First edition,limited issue, one of 100 numbered copies.Original flexible tan suede, gilt, uncut. Somesplits and chips in spine leather, else a freshcopy of this very delicate binding that owes itssurvival to pure chance, usually found in shamblesor rebound. Even the cloth trade edition isrelatively uncommon compared to Harte's earlierfirst editions. Contains Twain's memorable letteron Hotten. BAL 3510 (Twain) and 7407(Harte). MEMORIAL OF JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
Putnam, George P [MELVILLE, HERMAN] Putnam, George P., ed.MEMORIAL OF JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. New York: G. P.Putnam, 1852. First edition, possibly a smallprivate printing. Original black T-cloth, gilt. Afew faint stains and marks to cloth, but a lightlyrubbed tight clean copy of a book very seldomfound in the original cloth binding. Includesfirst printings of letters and tributes fromMelville, Hawthorne, Longfellow, Dana, Emerson,Bryant, Prescott, Simms, Paulding, Parkman,Kennedy, Bancroft, Irving, Willis, and others.Melville's letter, addressed to Rufus W. Griswold(who served as a memorial committee member), isdated February 20, 1852 in this volume, but wasactually written December 19, 1851 (see LETTERS94), just one month after the publication of MOBYDICK. In his letter Melville describes howCooper's works influenced him as a young reader,and comments on the unfairness that Cooper did notenjoy the fame he deserved in his later years.This is the first --and the rarest-- of only threebooks published during Melville's life thatcontain a first printing of one of his letters,and it is the only letter he ever wrote intendedfor publication; the other two books arebiographies of Hawthorne that included Melvilleletters as part of Hawthorne's correspondence(1876 and 1885). BAL 13665 (Melville) 7609(Hawthorne) etc. Sabin 510. Scharnhorst 636. ClarkC24. Howe HM 12, NH 104, etc. Not in the CarrollWilson collection. ATLANTIC SOUVENIR
Sigourney, Lydia [Sigourney, Lydia] THE ATLANTIC SOUVENIR; ACHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S OFFERING. FOR 1829.Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey [1828] Firstedition. Original pictorial green glazed boards,all edges gilt, in original slipcase, labels. Notquite a fine copy, and small bottom panel ofslipcase missing, but a lovely copy in the rareoriginal publisher's slipcase that matches theprinted designs of the covers. Contains one pieceby Willis, and a few by Sigourney, but nothing byLongfellow or Irving as in the previous volume.The edition was 9,500 copies. Kaser, pp. 275-84.Thompson, pp. 49-55, 110. ATLANTIC SOUVENIR
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth [Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth] THE ATLANTICSOUVENIR; A CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S OFFERING.FOR 1827. Philadelphia: H. C. Carey & I. Lea[1826] First edition. Original pictorial greenglazed boards, all edges gilt, in originalslipcase, labels. Some cracking at joints andsmall bottom panel of box missing, but a handsomecopy in the rare original publisher's slipcasethat mnatches the printed cover designs. Thesecond of the seven issues of this influentialgift-book. Contains a Longfellow poem, his fourthbook appearance. The edition was 4,500 copies.Kaser, pp. 275-84. BAL 12038. Thompson, pp. 49-55,110. POSTCARD
Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] [TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] REAL PHOTO POSTCARDOF MARK TWAIN AT HIS BOYHOOD HOME. Hannibal:Frazer Studios [ca. 1920] Oblong real photo cardshowing the Tomlinson image of Twain posing infront of the boyhood home. Frazer Studios wasestablished in 1919 when Tomlinson's daughter Jeanmarried Hal Frazer. Unused. EXTRACTS FROM ADAM’S DIARY BOOKMARK
Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] EXTRACTS FROM ADAM'SDIARY BOOKMARK. [New York: Harper, 1904].Promotional bookmark issued by Harper to advertisethe first edition of the book, with portrait(Sarony, 1884) of Twain, blurb, etc. On verso isan ad for Josephine Daskam's THE MEMOIRS OF ABABY, also published by Harper in 1904.Unrecorded, but we locate three other examples.This is the earliest known advertising bookmarkfor any of Twain's works. Cf. BAL3480. METHOD OF NATURE
Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ralph Waldo. THE METHOD OF NATURE. ANORATION DELIVERED BEFORE THE SOCIETY OF THEADELPHI. Boston: Samuel Simpkins, 1841. Firstedition. Original brown printed wrappers. Blankrear wrapper lacking, else a nice copy of anEmerson lecture rarely seen in the wrappers. Theedition was only 500 copies (about half theedition size of some of his other lectures). BAL5190. Myerson A11.1. ITALIAN JOURNEYS
Howells, William Dean Howells, William Dean. ITALIAN JOURNEYS. Leipzig:Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1883. First Continentaledition. Original full white vegetable vellum,heavily gilt, and hand-painted in blue, inoriginal red cloth dust jacket and box.Tauchnitz's English language editions of travelbooks by American authors were a popular item withAmerican tourists in Europe, and were frequentlyput into eye-catching "vellum" bindings, oftenwith inserted photographs. This volume carries abinder's ticket from Florence, Italy. The adswould indicate this volume was issued in 1885,making it an early example of a book in dustjacket and box. This title was first published in1867. Very fine. IN AFTER DAYS
Howells, William Dean [Howells, William Dean] IN AFTER DAYS. New York:Harper, 1910. First edition, primary binding.Original lavender linen, gilt, t.e.g. Even fadingof spine, else a bright fine copy, signed by sixof the nine contributors for John Pearsons:William Dean Howells, Thomas Wentworth Higginson,William Hanna Thomson, Henry Mills Alden, JohnBigelow, and Guglielmo Ferrero. Not signed byHenry James, Julia Ward Howe, or Elizabeth StuartPhelps (and it's probably too late to obtain theirsignatures). Three have signed on the frontflyleaf with quotations from their essays,personal inscription, and dates. Howells,Higginson, and Johnson have signed their essays inthe book (pp. 3, 133, and 153) and Howells wroteout a wonderful seven line inscription with aquote from his essay, dating it in Bermuda onMarch 4, 1911. Copies are typically found invarious later state bindings lettered in black(quarter red cloth, blue, green cloth, etc.). Thisinteresting collection of essays on the after-lifeis rarely found inscribed by any of thecontributors. BAL 10670, 9798, 8498, etc. Edel &Laurence B29. HEARTSEASE AND RUE
Lowell, James Russell Lowell, James Russell. HEARTSEASE AND RUE. NewYork & Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1888. Firstedition, first printing, second state (page 63/4cancelled, as usual). Original white quartercloth, and boards, gilt. The first printing was3,060 copies, and the cancel was made on February28, before publication; from BAL's notes it wouldseem that only the 1,030 copies sent to London forthe English issue escaped being canceled. Somedust, but a very good copy, inscribed by Lowell tohis life-long friend: Charles W. Story in pencilon the front end paper: "To C. W. Story with theauthor's love. 7th March, 1888." Lowell's"compliments" card is also laid in. Thepublisher's binding on this copy was designed bySarah Whitman. Allen-Gullans, p. 100. BAL13194. HOW TO TELL A STORY
Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] HOW TO TELL A STORYAND OTHER ESSAYS. New York: Harper, 1897. Firstedition. Original red decorated cloth, gilt, topedge gilt, uncut. A bright crisp copy, near fine.An uncommon title due to the unusually low pressrun of just 2,000 copies. All copies of the firstedition have the misprint ("ciper" for "cipher")in the text; this was not corrected until the bookwas reprinted. Also, copies of this book without"1897" on the title-page are later editions (notmerely "second states" of the first edition) butare often misrepresented as first editions. Thisvolume was the first of only two collections ofhis essays published during his lifetime,including several of his best: his thoughts on theart of story-telling, his famous critical essay onJames Fenimore Cooper, his history of the JumpingFrog story, and his personal account of aninstance of mental telepathy. BAL3449. AUTOBIOGRAPHY, (BURLESQUE) FIRST ROMANCE, AND MEMORANDA
Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY,(BURLESQUE) FIRST ROMANCE, AND MEMORANDA. Toronto:James Campbell & Son [1871] First Canadianedition. Original pictorial plum cloth, gilt. Onlythe mildest sunning of spine cloth, mild rubbingat ends, else a tight clean copy of a very scarcebook. BAL explains that the precise status of thisedition is uncertain, and it could precedeMEMORANDA FROM THE GALAXY, published in March of1871. The front cover features Twain's own crudecomic drawing of William III, the King of Prussia.BAL 3334. Housed in a quarter leatherslipcase. MARK TWAIN DOLL
Kimcraft [TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] Kimcraft [?] MARKTWAIN DOLL [n.p., n.d., probably Independence,Missouri: Kimport Doll Co., ca. 1930] Papier macheor composition doll of Mark Twain, with gooddetail, dressed in white suit. Some siling. Madeby Kimcraft (aka Kimport) which sold characterdolls of this kind, each made by individual localartisans. Kimcraft was started by Mr. and Mrs.McKim of Independence, Missouri, after they sawsome well-made dolls during a European vacationand decided to begin an import business. The Twaindolls were part of their "American type" series,all made in America. ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER
Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] THE ADVENTURES OF TOMSAWYER. New York: Harper, 1910. First editionthus, illustrated by Worth Brehm. Original redcloth, gilt, t.e.g. A very good copy of a veryscarce book. This edition was copyrighted October13, 1910. These illustrations by Brehm (1883-1928)were extremely popular. The commonly seen 1920sundated reprints (black cloth, color printed labelon front cover) are frequently mistaken (ormisrepreented) as the 1910 first edition; thefirst edition (clearly dated "MCMX" on thetitle-page) is extremely scarce in the market forreasons that are not entirely clear, but the etxtblock is too heavy for the binding an the unsizedcloth would be prone to dust and moisture damage;the only other copy we have seen in the market inrecent years was a rebound copy sold for OBSERVATOR
L'Estrange, Roger [FREEDOM OF THE PRESS] L'Estrange, Roger. THEOBSERVATOR [Number 434]. London: Printed forJoanna Brome at the Gun in S. Pauls Churchyard,Thursday, November 8, 1683. First edition.Broadsheet, uncut, as issued. Minor aging andnicks, but a fine copy. In this issue L'Estrangeuses his usual slangy dialogue format, clutteredwith gothic and italic and all cap type fonts foremphasis, and peppered with apostrophes commas toreplicate the tone of a lively conversation, todebate the freedom of the press under QueenElizabeth. His use of colorful slang like"twitted" and phrases like "ticklish upon thatquestion" or "a Bear by the Tooth" makes foramusing reading. An advertisement at the endoffers for sale copies of Ayres' EMBLEMATAAMATORIA, and announces that a paper forhorse-dealers, `The Jockeys Intelligence' wasbeing revived due to popular demand. AUTOGRAPH POSTCARD SIGNED, TO WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON
Whittier, John Greenleaf Whittier, John Greenleaf. AUTOGRAPH POSTCARDSIGNED, TO WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. Amesbury, May17 [no year, but ca. 1873-79]. 1p. Whittier writesto his old friend and fellow abolitionist about avisit they were trying to arrange: "Danvers 5thmo. 17, Dear Garrison, I shall be at Amsbury for afew days, probably until the last of next week. Iwill notify of my return. Very cordially thyfr[ien]d, John G. Whittier." On the address panelWhittier has written "William Lloyd Garrison,Highland, Boston." This one cent preprintedpostcard has no year in the postmark, but couldhave been issued as early as 1873; Garrison diedin 1879; hence the estimated date. Faint crease atone end and mild abrasion along one edge, but awonderful autograph association of two greatanti-slavery figures of the nineteenthcentury. INNOCENTS ABROAD
Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] THE INNOCENTS ABROAD.Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1869. Firstedition, third state. Original black cloth, gilt.A very good clean tight crisp copy but for an evenline of fraying at spine ends. Twain's second bookand first best-seller. BAL 3316. MARK TWAIN DOLL
Eubank Dolls [TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] Eubank Dolls. MARKTWAIN DOLL [Hannibal, Missouri, n.d., circa1940-1952] Handmade papier mache doll of MarkTwain, dressed in a suit, black shoes, ten inchestall, with flexible arms and legs (a feature thatmakes this doll especially attractive --Twain caneasily be posed to stand on his head, sit on abookshelf, hang from a light fixture, do splits,practice Yoga, etc.). Wilma Eubank Pulliam madedolls in Hannibal and sold them as souvenirs; theywere among the first Mark Twain dolls ever made,and each was slightly different from theothers. 