MARK TWAIN'S OWN COPY OF THE GERMAN EDITION OF THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, SIGNED "MARK TWAIN" AND "S.L. CLEMENS"
TWAIN, Mark. Der Prinz und der Betteljunge [The Prince and the Pauper]. Giessen: J. Ricker, 1890. Octavo, original dark blue cloth, patterned endpapers. Housed in a custom cloth clamshell box.
First German edition—Mark Twain's own copy, signed by him in ink above the half title, "Mark Twain," and inscribed by him in pencil beneath the half title, "S.L. Clemens, Sent by the German publisher. Oct. 1890." The Doheny copy, with Estelle Doheny's bookplate.
Thought by his family and many of his friends to be his best work, The Prince and the Pauper represented a risky departure for Twain in his attempt to write a serious and thoughtful adventure story for children. He considered publishing the book anonymously, as he feared that his reputation as a humorist would hurt its chances with the public, but finally decided to put his name to it, "and let it help me or hurt me as the fates shall direct." "The Prince and the Pauper was to be an act of culture. He had no hesitation, as he had had with Tom Sawyer, over whether this was a book for children or for grownups. From the very start he knew that he was writing for children" (Kaplan, 238, 248). With the bookplate of renowned collector Estelle Doheny. Starting in 1926, Doheny, wife of pioneering California oil developer Edward Doheny, "turned her casual attraction for books into a serious collecting passion… This collection grew to be one of the most important in the world." Doheny eventually expanded her collecting foci: "With innate good taste, Doheny formed one of the most impressive rare book and manuscript libraries in the United States" (Dickinson, 95).
Near-fine condition. Most scarce and desirable from Twain's own library.