THE STOLEN WHITE ELEPHANT Etc.


Written by Mark Twain. Published by Charles L. Webster & Company, New York. Copyright 1882; this book is a later printing, dated 1894.

This book was originally printed in 1882 by James Osgood and Co.; there was only one binding style and one printing. After Osgood’s business failed a few years later his stock was taken over by Charles L. Webster, Twain’s nephew and publisher, who issued copies of the original sheets with his own title page. That is what this book is. First edition copies were printed in cream cloth with brown and gilt stampings. Later editions like this one are usually in khaki or green cloth, but look the same otherwise. Most of the first edition copies have “tanned” over the years and no longer resemble anything resembling cream.

This book is a collection of 18 stories. Contents include: "The Stolen White Elephant", "Some Rambling Notes of an Idle Excursion", "The Facts concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime", "About Magnanimous-Incident Literature", "Punch Brothers Punch", "A Curious Experience", "The Great Revolution in Pitcairn", "Mrs McWilliams and the Lightning", "On the Decay of the Art of Lying", "The Canvassers Tale", "An Encounter with an Interviewer", "Paris Notes", "Speech on the Babies", “Speech on the Weather”, ”Concerning the American Language”, “Rogers”, "The Loves of Alonzo Fitz Clarence and Rosannah Ethelton".

The title-story of this collection is a wonderful burlesque about a sacred white elephant that is stolen while being transported from Siam, via New Jersey, to Queen Victoria, as a diplomatic gesture of goodwill after the settlement of a dispute. It is an early detective story itself, although the dozens of detectives involved in the search are hopelessly inept.

DESCRIPTION:

7 x 5 inches

306 pages

second edition hardcover

CONDITION:

This hard-cover book is in very good condition. The book has been rebound and recased into its original cover retaining its original endpapers. The cloth hardcover shows some soiling and age. The spine ends and corners has been repaired and strengthened. New paper has been used to reinforce the hinges. There is an old inked name and date (1894) on the half-title page.the rest of the interior of the book is very good.

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