35 BAUMAN RARE BOOKS “One Of The Most Durable Works In American Literature”: One Of Only A Few Hundred Copies In Scarce Publisher’s Morocco First American edition, first state, of one of the uncontested, great masterpieces of American literature—and “one of the few books enjoyed by readers of every age” (LeMaster & Wilson)—in scarce handsome publisher’s morocco-gilt. “The first novel Mark Twain wrote without a co-author, Tom Sawyer is also his most clearly autobiographical novel… Enlivened by extraordinary and melodramatic events, it is otherwise a realistic depiction of the experiences, people and places that Mark Twain knew as a child” (Rasmussen, 459). “Publication of Tom Sawyer was little noticed… The book has, however, proved to be one of the most durable works in American literature. By the time of Twain’s death, it was his top-selling book. It has been in print continuously since 1876, and has outsold all other Mark Twain works” (Rasmussen, 459). “The first and second printings were only 5000 copies each, and one month after publication only 9378 copies had been bound,” only 200 of which were bound as here, in the publisher’s three-quarter morocco-gilt; “by the end of 1879 the number of copies sold was just 28,959,” only 300 of which were bound in the publisher’s three-quarter morocco (MacDonnell, 39). Interior generally clean, endpapers renewed, with faint traces of original peach endpapers present. Minor color restoration to corners. An extremely attractive copy, most rare and desirable in the scarce publisher’s morocco-gilt. 37TWAIN, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Hartford, 1876. Square octavo, publisher’s threequarter brown morocco gilt, custom slipcase. $46,000
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