Jennings, John A
READINGS FROM AMERICAN AUTHORS
- $300
[Twain, Mark] [Clemens, S. L.] Jennings, John A.,ed. READINGS FROM AMERICAN AUTHORS. Dublin:Carson Brothers; London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co.[1884] First edition. Original yellow pictorialboards with Twain's profile portrait on frontcover. Spine lettering barely legible, but spineis wholy intact; some dust to covers, but a verygood copy otherwise, and unusually good for thisfragile and scare yellowback anthology. Thiscollection includes a broad selection of Americanwritings with a strong emphasis on humorists.Twain had visited Ireland in 1873, but this is anearly appearance of writings in Ireland, andsignificant because it features Twain on the frontcover. Eight pieces (all probably reprints) are byTwain, plus works of Will Carleton, Bret Harte,Artemus Ward, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Thomas BaileyAldrich, William Dean Howells, Max Adeler, JamesRussell Lowell, and even Edgar Allan Poe. Not inBAL, Johnson, et al. Topp, VIII:97(720).[a]
More from Mac Donnell Rare Books
TICKET GOOD FOR STEAMSHIP AMERICA, SAN FRANCISCO TO NEW YORK
C. A. Transit Company [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- $65
- $65
A CONNECTICUT YANKEE.THOU SWELL
Rodgers, Richard, and Lorenz Hart [TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] Rodgers, Richard,and Lorenz Hart. A CONNECTICUT YANKEE, A MUSICALADAPTATION OF MARK TWAIN.THOU SWELL. New York:Harms Inc., 1927. First edition. Sheet music(music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart). Originalorange printed wrapper. Very good. This is one ofsix songs from the stage version that were printedin sheet music form; we have never seen a completeset. This song gained widespread fame from NatalieCole's recording of it.- $45
- $45
POSTCARD
Weiss & Co., William [TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] POSTCARD OF MARKTWAIN IN BERMUDA. Hamilton, Bermuda: William Weiss& Co., Photographers and Kodak Dealers [ca.1908-10] The famous photograph of Twain in adonkey cart at left with caption "Mark Twain(America's greatest humorist) in Bermuda." In asplit image on the right he is standing next to asailboat. Divided back; postmarked in 1920. Thisrare postcard was issued between 1908 and 1910 andwe have seen a used example postmarked as late as1923.- $150
- $150
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.- $300
- $300
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.- $300
- $300
A WALK OVER IN 1804 AND IN 1904
Hale & Kilburn Manufacturing Co [TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] Hale & KilburnManufacturing Co. A WALK OVER IN 1804 AND IN1904. Philadelphia: Hale & Kilburn [1904] Die cutadvertising card or blotter printed in red andblack, depicting a Pullman passenger car, withtext on back describing their newly designedrailroad seats; 3 1/2 x 9 inches. Small crease toone corner, some mounting abrasions on verso, twosmall staple or punch-holes from original hangeror stapling, but a very nice and attractiveadvertising piece. These kinds of cards and flyerswere typically hung on strings at depots forpassengers to take if interested, but this one mayhave been designed to be stapled to tickets. Eachof the ten windows of the car contains aphotographic portrait of a celebrity: Clara Barton(1) Thomas Edison (2), Mark Twain (4), MadameCurrie (5), Teddy Roosevelt (6), General NelsonMiles (7), Admiral George Dewey (8), and PresidentGrover Cleveland (9). The fellows gazing out fromwindows 3 and 10 remain a mystery. Twain spent agood portion of his life on railroad carstraveling great distances to and from his manylectures, and his wife's family, the Langdons ofElmira, owned a railroad, and would arrange aspecial car each summer to transport Twain and hisfamily to and from Elmira where he wroteADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, THE ADVENTURES OFTOM SAWYER, THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, and muchmore.- $225
- $225
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN
Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARKTWAIN. Berkeley: University of California Press[2010-13-15] 3 vols. First editions, firstprintings, uncorrected proof copies. Originalpictorial wrappers. Fine set. The firstcomprehensive scholarly edited version of Twain'sautobiography, edited by Harriet Elinor Smith. Thefirst printing of the first volume was anticipatedto be 7,500 copies, but advance orders boosted itto 50,000 copies, and in less than three yearsover 500,000 copies had been sold. The second andthird volumes did not sell as well. The print runsfor these advance proof copies is unknown, but itwas very small for the first volume, making setsof all three quite scarce.- $500
- $500
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.- $25
- $25
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.- $450
- $450
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.- $500
- $500
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.- $450
- $450
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.- $450
- $450
CENTURY ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE
Century Magazine [TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] Century Magazine.THE CENTURY ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE. New York: TheCentury Co., October, 1893. First edition.Leaflet, 12pp. Original brown printed wrappers.Fine crisp copy. This illustrated advertisingleaflet for the October issue of the magazinecontains a portrait of Twain along with a blurbabout Twain's forthcoming PUDD'NHEAD WILSON.Unrecorded.- $225
- $225
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.- $150
- $150
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- $500
- $500
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.- $100
- $100
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.- $500
- $500
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.- $200
- $200
EVERYBODY’S FRIEND
Billings, Josh [Shaw, Henry Wheeler] [Twain, Mark] [Clemens, S. L.] Billings, Josh[Shaw, Henry Wheeler]. EVERYBODY'S FRIEND.Hartford: American Publishing Co., 1874. Firstedition. Original black cloth, gilt. Illustratedby Thomas Nast. Spine ends and corners frayed,else a very good copy. Includes the first bookprinting of Twain's letter to Billings making funof his spelling, at pages 573-75. Billings hadpublished this letter in his `Spice-Box' newspapercolumn in `The New York Weekly' in July, 1873.Early in his career Twain was influenced by thecomic writers known as the "Phunny Phellows"(Billings, Ward, etc.) but soon moved beyond theirtiresome bag of tricks that included phoneticspelling. BAL, Johnson, et al, overlooked thisTwain first book printing, although BAL doesrecord the book (BAL 17455) as a Shaw primaryedition.- $500
- $500
BUCK FANSHAW’S FUNERAL
Humphrey, Harry E [TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] Edison, Thomas.BUCK FANSHAW'S FUNERAL. [n.p., EdisonLaboratories, 1912] Cylinder record (EdisonAmberol Record). In original fleece-lined sleeve,without lid. This was the famous chapter (17) fromROUGHING IT describing the death of the violentsaloon keeper, recited by the famous elocutionistHarry E. Humphrey. Edison produced wax cylindersas early as 1888, and had "brown wax" cylinders inthe market in the early 1890s, and stoppedproduction of his amerol cylinders in November,1912. This four minute cylinder (number 1127 inEdison's Amberol series) was issued in October,1912, and was in the market a very short period oftime. Humphrey recorded several Edison cylindersand records between 1910 and 1922. AlthoughTwain's voice was recorded several times, norecording of Twain's voice survives, and thisrecording by Humphrey is the earliest soundrecording of one of Twain's works.- $250
- $250
MARK TWAIN. IF YOU DAILY DRINK YOUR FILL, THERE’LL BE NO NEED TO MAKE
Mogul Egyptian Cigarettes [TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] Mogul EgyptianCigarettes. MARK TWAIN. IF YOU DAILY DRINK YOURFILL, THERE'LL BE NO NEED TO MAKE A WILL. NewYork: S. Anargyros [ca. 1910] Cigarette card,color lithograph, with Twain's portrait at leftand saying about drinking at right, all within ared and gilt border. Part of Mogul's `ToastSeries,' issued between Summer, 1909 and Fall,1910 in a series of 550 cards. The five Twaincards were numbers 512-525 in the series. Fineexample, and one of a handful of cigarette cardsfeaturing Twain issued during his lifetime. Forbes& Mitchell, p. 426 (#521).- $100
- $100
