1st edition, early state of Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson.
Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894) is a novel by American writer Mark Twain. Its central intrigue revolves around two boys—one, born into slavery, with 1/32 black ancestry; the other, white, born to be the master of the house. The two boys, who look similar, are switched at infancy. Each grows into the other's social role.
The Biography of American Literature (BAL) lists "points" delineating the earliest 1st editions (they were updated as issues were discovered and the print went along). This has those. The title page is on the same paper as the rest of the text. The book is 1 and 1/8 inch thick. There is a title page, a 1/2 title page, and then the numbering of pages jumps to 15. The signature (printed) of Twain on the frontis is only 1.5" wide, but then both BAL and ABAA Collecting Mark Twain say that this point is not indicative of any timeline, so all those people listing it as a point of the earliest state are just copying each other and not reading what BAL actually says ha (Twain would like that observation, I think).
Physical Attributes -
Measures approx. 23 x 15 x 3 cm.. Cloth covered hardcover publisher's binding with some gilt and black decoration. Greyish endpapers. Pages - flyleaf, (2), frontis, iv, 15-432 pages, (1), flyleaf.
Condition -
See pictures. Vintage patina. Rubbing to edges and boards. Some soiling marks in cloth binding. Spine faded. Dusty top edge. Crack at front hinge, not yet all the way. Chipping fore-edge of flyleaf. Tissue in place over frontis. Ghost of inserted (?) verso 30/recto 31. Toning near edges throughout. Evidence of moisture at top of rear board; also, inside waviness at top of last circa 20 leaves, also indicating the moisture made it to there. Occasional thumb. Occasional crease near top-edge gutter, circa 3". Mostly quite clean; while it is not in good enough condition for a condition hound, it would make a fine reader, and is a very early state.
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