Twain, Mark

Roughing It (Two Editions)

ISBN: 0520205588;0195101
Berkeley & Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY: University of California Press; Oxford University Press, 1993; 1996. First Editions Thus. Hardcovers. Two scholarly editions of the classic early work by Samuel Langhorne Clemens a/k/a Mark Twain (1835-1910), the canonical American humorist & author: (1) Roughing It, "A publication of the/ Mark Twain Project of the Bancroft Library/ University of California Press" (title page), 1993. Restored text (see front flap quote below) of the original work with illustrations first published in 1872, chiefly edited by Edgar Marquess Branch & Harriet Elinor Smith (who provides a foreword). The text with illustrations & Twain's three appendices is followed by a very extensive section of explanatory footnotes & various supplements. As noted on front flap, "Mark Twain's humorous account of his six years in Nevada, San Francisco, and the Sandwich Islands is a patchwork of personal anecdotes and tall tales, many of them told in the "vigorous new vernacular" of the West...Meticulously restored from a variety of original sources, the text is the first to adhere to the author's wishes in thousands of details of wording, spelling, and punctuation, and includes all of the 304 first-edition illustrations. With its expert annotation, specially drawn maps, and other supplementary documents, this...is sure to become the standard edition for readers and students of Mark Twain." A handsome, solid 850-page production, part of publisher's "Mark Twain Library" series, hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition thus, first printing as indicated by number sequence on copyright page. (2) Roughing It, Oxford University Press, 1996. As stated in Editor's Note, "The Oxford Mark Twain consists of twenty-nine volumes of facsimiles of the first American editions of Mark Twain's works, with an editor's foreword, new introductions, afterwords, notes on the texts, and essays on the illustrations in volumes with artwork." This volume in the series reproduces the first edition published by the American Publishing Company in 1872. Edited by Shelley Fisher Fishkin, with introduction by the great American author, editor & publisher George Plimpton & afterword by Henry B. Wonham. "Twain blends autobiography and tall tale to produce this engaging humorous account of six boisterous years in Nevada, San Francisco and Hawaii. Genteel culture meets frontier culture head-on in this wildly inventive, high-spirited book, and neither will ever be the same." (from front flap) Another "door-stopper" as with (1), hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first trade edition thus, first printing as indicated by number sequence on copyright page. Two great editions of Twain's acclaimed & still-popular saga (a direct precursor to Gonzo Journalism?) for the scholar & collector. (1) Book in very fine condition with only several very light, small spot-stains at lower edge of text block; otherwise substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with light rubbing to front, back covers & spine; a few tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of same & flaps. (2) Book very fine with only a bit of wear at edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; otherwise substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with very light rubbing to front cover & spine, slightly more to back cover esp. at & surrounding barcode; a bit of wear & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same & flaps; several short, faint creases at/ near lower left corner of front flap. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #4271]

Price: $60.00