Life on the Mississippi
by Mark Twain
First edition, in the exceptionally scarce publisher's full morocco leather binding. One of just a handful of recorded copies.
Publisher and Year: Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1883
Edition: First edition, Intermediate State B, omitting the Twain-in-flames illustration on p. 441 (second state), but retaining the erroneous “St. Louis Hotel” caption on p. 443 (first state). In the publisher's full morocco leather binding. The book could be ordered by customers in several binding styles: cloth (plain or gilt edges; $3.50/$4.00), calf ($4.25), half calf ($5.00), half morocco ($5.00), and full morocco ($8.00). The number of full morocco copies produced remains unknown, but very few were ordered for other Twain titles when offered, ranging from 0 (Tom Sawyer) to 58 (The Gilded Age).
In his seminal 1998 article, Twain bibliographer Kevin MacDonnell reported having located only two full morocco copies ofLife on the Mississippi. In reviewing records spanning fifty years, we have identified a total of eight copies offered for sale, including the present example: four at auction and four in dealer catalogs. Of these, two were completely disbound, and all but two had loss or separation of at least one of the marbled endpapers. Just three of these examples had both of the first state points. (BAL 3341; Johnson 41; MacDonnell 1998; Publisher's Prospectus)
Condition and Description: Octavo, publisher’s full brown morocco binding, gilt lettering to spine, blind stamping to the spine and boards, all edges gilt. Gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers. Frontispiece and over 300 additional in-text illustrations. 624 pp. Rubbing and abrasions to the boards and spine. Gilt bright. Binding sound, though there is cracking to the gutter of the final blank, and splitting has just barely started to the upper two inches of the rear free endpaper, as shown. All pages firmly attached and the text block remains securely cased. Front free endpaper lacking, a typical fault of this binding. Separation or loss of at least one of the free endpapers has occurred in six of the eight surviving examples in full morocco that we have reviewed, likely owing to the stress caused by the considerable weight of the text block and covers. Bookseller’s ticket to front pastedown. No writing or underlining. An attractive example of one of the rarest Twain bindings.
Life on the Mississippi is a semi-autobiographical travel narrative chronicling Twain’s youthful apprenticeship as a steamboat pilot before the Civil War, followed by his return to the river more than twenty years later. Blending memoir, journalism, and satire, the book offers vivid portraits of river life, commerce, and culture across a nation in transition. Its observations on deception, regionalism, and nostalgia prefigure the themes of Huckleberry Finn. Life on the Mississippi remains among Twain’s most acclaimed and enduring works.
Inventory ID: 537 - 981 - 249
Life on the Mississippi
by Mark Twain
First edition, in the exceptionally scarce publisher's full morocco leather binding. One of just a handful of recorded copies.
Publisher and Year: Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1883
Edition: First edition, Intermediate State B, omitting the Twain-in-flames illustration on p. 441 (second state), but retaining the erroneous “St. Louis Hotel” caption on p. 443 (first state). In the publisher's full morocco leather binding. The book could be ordered by customers in several binding styles: cloth (plain or gilt edges; $3.50/$4.00), calf ($4.25), half calf ($5.00), half morocco ($5.00), and full morocco ($8.00). The number of full morocco copies produced remains unknown, but very few were ordered for other Twain titles when offered, ranging from 0 (Tom Sawyer) to 58 (The Gilded Age).
In his seminal 1998 article, Twain bibliographer Kevin MacDonnell reported having located only two full morocco copies ofLife on the Mississippi. In reviewing records spanning fifty years, we have identified a total of eight copies offered for sale, including the present example: four at auction and four in dealer catalogs. Of these, two were completely disbound, and all but two had loss or separation of at least one of the marbled endpapers. Just three of these examples had both of the first state points. (BAL 3341; Johnson 41; MacDonnell 1998; Publisher's Prospectus)
Condition and Description: Octavo, publisher’s full brown morocco binding, gilt lettering to spine, blind stamping to the spine and boards, all edges gilt. Gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers. Frontispiece and over 300 additional in-text illustrations. 624 pp. Rubbing and abrasions to the boards and spine. Gilt bright. Binding sound, though there is cracking to the gutter of the final blank, and splitting has just barely started to the upper two inches of the rear free endpaper, as shown. All pages firmly attached and the text block remains securely cased. Front free endpaper lacking, a typical fault of this binding. Separation or loss of at least one of the free endpapers has occurred in six of the eight surviving examples in full morocco that we have reviewed, likely owing to the stress caused by the considerable weight of the text block and covers. Bookseller’s ticket to front pastedown. No writing or underlining. An attractive example of one of the rarest Twain bindings.
Life on the Mississippi is a semi-autobiographical travel narrative chronicling Twain’s youthful apprenticeship as a steamboat pilot before the Civil War, followed by his return to the river more than twenty years later. Blending memoir, journalism, and satire, the book offers vivid portraits of river life, commerce, and culture across a nation in transition. Its observations on deception, regionalism, and nostalgia prefigure the themes of Huckleberry Finn. Life on the Mississippi remains among Twain’s most acclaimed and enduring works.
Inventory ID: 537 - 981 - 249
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