Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's Comrade).

First edition, earliest possible issue confirmed by a contemporary 1884 gift inscription of Mark Twain’s masterpiece, a justifiable contender for the title of "the Great American Novel" and arguably "the most praised and most condemned 19th-century American work of fiction" (Legacies of Genius, 47). Octavo, original publisher’s gilt and black stamped pictorial green cloth, with 174 illustrations by Edward W. Kemble. Contains all of the agreed upon first issue points for the clothbound book: page 9 with “Decided” remaining uncorrected (to “Decides”); page 13, illustration captioned “Him and another Man” listed as on page 88; page 57, 11th line from bottom reads “with the was,” instead of “with the saw." Other points of bibliographical interest included in this copy are the frontispiece portrait in first state with the cloth table cover under the bust, bearing the Heliotype Printing Co. imprint; copyright page dated 1884; page 143 with “l” missing from “Col.” at top of illustration and with broken “b” in “body” on line seven; page 155 with a larger final “5”; page 161, no signature mark “11”. As to issue points resulting from damaged plates (e.g. the dropped “5” on p 155), MacDonnell concludes, “they are of no significance in determining the sequence of the printing of the sheets. All of these occur at random in relation to each other within copies of the first printing, a strong indicator of the use of multiple plates, and possibly mixed sheets within the collating process” (“Huck Finn” Firsts Magazine). Contemporary gift inscription to the front free endpaper, "To 'Lute', Christmas 1884." First editions of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn present an array of issue points and an absolute priority of issue has been difficult to establish. The present copy, however, is one of just a handful of copies presented to those associated with the publication of the work that were given as Christmas gifts in 1884, significantly in advance of the February 16ht 1885 publication date. Even review copies were not generally distributed much before the publication date, as Clemens warned Webster to "send no copy of the book to any newspaper until after the Century or the Atlantic shall have reviewed it" (Clemens to Webster, 27 January 1885). While the recipient of this copy has not been identified, he must have been related to someone employed in the Webster publishing firm. (Two other copies with 1884 Christmas gift inscriptions are both inscribed by Webster himself). Accompanied by an extensive forensic report by Dr. Joe Nickell, the noted document examiner, which concludes that the inscription on the endpaper is genuine. In very good condition with wear and minor losses to the crown and foot of the spine, splitting to the gutters. Housed in a custom full morocco clamshell box. An exceptional example of this landmark work in American literature, one of only a handful of the earliest possible issue extant.