January 2021 Catalogue

61 Required Reading January 2021 Beautiful Memorial Edition Of Twain’s Writings, One Of Only 90 Sets Produced, With An Unpublished Manuscript Leaf Entirely In Twain’s Hand Including A Sentence That Also Appears In Tom Sawyer 59. TWAIN, Mark. The Writings. New York and London, 1929. Thirty-seven volumes. Octavo, contemporary full teal morocco gilt. $36,500. Click for more info Rare, illustrated “Memorial Edition,” one of only 90 sets, signed on the limitation page by the publisher and with an unpublished manuscript leaf of dialogue in Twain’s hand, a line from which later appears in Tom Sawyer, with frontispiece plates depicting scenes from the text as well as dozens of illustrated plates, beautifully bound in full morocco-gilt by Bayntun. The manuscript leaf, tipped to a blank leaf at front of Volume I ( Innocents Abroad ), contains unpublished material. The phrase “I always liked you & stood up for you” fromthemanuscript leaf appears, slightlymodified, as “I always liked you, Joe, and stood up for you” in a section of dialogue between Muff Potter and Injun Joe right after the murder of Doctor Robinson in Tom Sawyer . The overall passages also contain a few other notable similarities, including the repeated entreaty “Don’t tell” and a desperate, pleading tone. The word “Jehos[h]aphat” appears only in one other Twain work, Innocents Abroad . There, Jehoshaphat is mentioned three times in reference to the Valley of Jehoshaphat—the anticipated site of the Final Judgment. Twain visited the area during his travels. Closed tears to manuscript leaf in Innocents (I), expert repairs to about half the joints, uniform toning to spines. A most desirable and beautiful set with an intriguing Twain manuscript leaf.

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