Twain, Mark

Plymouth Rock & the Pilgrims and Other Salutary Platform Opinions with: Speeches

ISBN: 0060153539;0195101
New York, NY: Harper & Row; Oxford University Press, 1984; 1996. First Editions Thus. Hardcovers. Two collectible compilations of transcribed speeches by Samuel Langhorne Clemens a/k/a Mark Twain (1835-1910), the canonical American humorist & author: (1) Plymouth Rock & the Pilgrims and Other Salutary Platform Opinions, Harper & Row, 1984. Hardcover in clipped dust jacket, first edition as stated on copyright page, first printing as indicated by number sequence thereon. Selected, edited & with introductions (general & preceding each speech) by Charles Neider (1915-2001), a prolific scholar who compiled & edited many Twain volumes in addition to this. As quoted from front flap, "According to many witnesses, Samuel Clemens was one of the great comic speakers of the nineteenth century, whose genius could keep an audience enthralled or helpless with laughter. This delightful selection of his "spoken" work, the first that has been available in nearly fifty years, contains eighty-two talks, after-dinner speeches, lectures, and other public utterances...Clemens was in great demand, a star of the lecture circuit, and his appearances commanded large fees, which he needed to pay off many debts. Nearly all his talks were carefully crafted- written out and memorized- and then presented as if they were impromptu; consequently, they are works of literature in every sense of the word, and some are among the finest examples of Clemens' writing." (2) Speeches, Oxford University Press, 1996. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first trade edition thus, first printing as indicated by number sequence on copyright page. 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 reproduces Mark Twain's Speeches, the 1910 edition published by Harper & Brothers (predecessor to publisher of (1) above) with an introduction by William Dean Howells, the great American writer who was one of Twain's closest friends & colleagues. Edited by Shelley Fisher Fishkin; with introduction by the venerable, recently deceased actor Hal Holbrook (1925-2021), whose portrayal of Twain in his one-man show was a high point of American theater; & afterword by David Barrow. As noted on front flap, "Published a few months after his death, this wide-ranging collection of speeches, spanning more than four decades, covers the gamut of Mark Twain's interests. Here are speeches on Women's rights, on cigars and billiards, and on the extension of the copyright law. We find occasional pieces, banquet toasts and introdutions that, in addition to being amusing in themselves, provide a vivid glimpse of nineteenth- and early twentieth century social rituals." Two desirable editions of Twain's varied, humorous & penetrating spoken words, not completely overlapping & with helpful academic scholarship. (1) Book in very fine condition with only slightest wear & fading to edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; miniscule bumps at upper corners of a few page leaves; otherwise substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket near-fine with mild rubbing, scratching & a bit of browning to front, back covers, spine & flaps; light wear & some tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of same; a few with very slight loss of paper esp. at spine-edges, corners & upper edge of front cover. (2) Book very fine with very slight bending inward of upper binding from spine; otherwise substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with only light rubbing to front, esp. back covers & spine; a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same, one at lower edge of rear flap. Very Fine / Near Fine; Very Fine. [Item #4486]

Price: $60.00