Mark twain autobiography and first romance
Cloth. Condition: Good. None Stated (illustrator). First edition. The first edition, second issue of this work containing two short stories written by Mark Twain, supposedly presenting fictional characters from the author's own ancestry. The first edition, second issue, with the advertisement for Ball, Black & Co., to the verso of the title page. Bound in the publisher's original green cloth. An entertaining work comprised of two short stories: "A Burlesque Autobiography" and "First Romance". While being referred to as autobiographical, these tales present wholly fictional characters, who are supposedly part of Twain's ancestry. Illustrated with vignette engravings throughout.The work of American author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, who wrote under his well-known pseudonym Mark Twain. Known for his humorist works, Twain was celebrated as one of the greatest American writers, being labelled by William Faulkner as "the father of American literature". Deemed by the author as not one of his personal favourites, Twain bought all the printing plates of this book and destroyed them, two years after publication. With an additional page of advertisements to the rear, as well as a newspaper cutting of Twain and one of his other poems. Ink and pencil inscriptions from previous owners to the front endpaper, including that of E. O. Austin, likely to be Edward Oramel Austin, who was a settler and founder of Austin, Pennsylvania. Bound in the publisher's original green cloth. Externally, sound,with rubbing to the extremities causing a little loss to cloth. Light marking to boards. Inscriptions and marks to front endpaper. Front hinge is slightly strained, but holding. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are generally bright, with handling marks throughout. Ink inscription to title page. The odd tear to pages, with tape repair to p45. Good. book.
Mark Twain's Burlesque Autobiography; and, First Romance
The worse thing is that this particular Prince Classics edition is such a poor reprint edition of the original publication and a scam. The hardcover looks nice, but the guts were cheaply produced. The font is exceptionally generic and the format doesn't even try to emulate the original or any sort of decent style; zero thought was put into producing this. If you thought most of the 52 pages were Twain's writings, you'd be wrong. Over half the book is a quick gloss of Twain's life. The reason it comes across this way is because it's a straight copy from Twain's Wikipedia page. Seriously.
If you want to read these short pieces, spare yourself the sadness of this edition. If you can't find an original 1871 copy, a good facsimile edition would do. They're probably anthologized somewhere as well.
Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography and First Romance
First edition cover | |
| Author | Mark Twain |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | Sheldon |
Publication date | 1871 |
| Media type | |
Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography and First Romance is an 1871 book by American author Mark Twain. Published by Sheldon & Co. in 1871, the book consists of two short stories: "A Burlesque Autobiography", which first appeared in Twain's Memoranda contributions to The Galaxy, and "First Romance", which originally appeared in The Express in 1870.
The book bears no relationship to Twain's actual life. The two short stories present fictional characters who are supposedly part of Twain's lineage. In the final passage, Twain develops the story to a point of crisis, and then abruptly ends the tale, saying:
The truth is, I have got my hero (or heroine) into such a particularly close place, that I do not see how I am ever going to get him (or her) out of it again—and therefore I will wash my hands of the whole business, and leave that person to get out the best way that offers—or else stay there. I thought it was going to be easy enough to straighten out that little difficulty, but it looks different now.
With that, Twain's Autobiography ends.
The illustrations form an interesting aspect of this book. They have no relationship to the text of the book. Rather, they use cartoons illustrating the children's poem The House that Jack Built to lampoon the Erie Railroad Ring (the house) and its participants, Jay Gould, John T. Hoffman, and Jim Fisk.
The book was not one of Twain's personal favorites. Two years after publication, he bought all of the printing plates of the book and destroyed them.