FIRST EDITION OF MARK TWAIN’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY

TWAIN, Mark. Mark Twain's Autobiography. With an Introduction by Albert Bigelow Paine. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1924. Two volumes. Octavo, original gilt-stamped blue cloth, top edges gilt, uncut. $450.

First edition of Twain’s autobiography, with an introduction by Twain’s biographer, Albert Bigelow Paine, in original cloth.

Mark Twain composed his autobiography over a period of forty years, from 1870 to 1910, and left the manuscripts in a chaotic condition at his death in 1910. This edition, the first version of the Autobiography in book form, was prepared by Albert Bigelow Paine and published in 1924; it highlights Twain's character as a literary experimenter and as a self-conscious satirist. "He experimented with a variety of methods and forms: from autobiographical sketches to childhood memories, from commentary on contemporary events to reflections on his life experiences to carefully sculpted eulogies for family and friends… Twain began to compose autobiography intentionally to preserve events from his adult life in the East: it would not be used to enhance his fiction… The separation between fiction and autobiography grew clearer as Twain continued his experiments… he reached toward autobiography to explore his relationships and to record his reactions… He was gradually moving from using memory as fodder for fiction to using personal relationships as the bases for occasional sketches. Twain's move to self-reflection was prompted by the trauma and resulting pressure of bankruptcy compounded by the shock of his daughter Susy's death from spinal meningitis in 1896… During these years of experiment Twain thought little of offering a full autobiography to the public. Even when Albert Bigelow Paine entered the picture and the two began their series of conversations known as the final autobiographical dictations, Twain thought of the project as a source for the biography that Paine would produce. His thoughts of an autobiography did not take shape until well after they had begun their sessions… Ultimately, Twain seems to have decided to leave the manuscripts and commentaries to his editors" (Mark Twain Encyclopedia, 54-6). Without original dust jackets. BAL 3537.

Fine condition.