The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Twain, Mark
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Stevenson, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Original red cloth. Two gatherings a little loose. Minor wear. A very good copy. Half morocco case.
First edition of the iconic American "Boy's Book." Twain's first novel written without a co-author, Tom Sawyer "proved to be one of the most durable works in American literature. By the time of Twain's death, it was his top-selling book. It had been in print continuously since 1876, and has outsold all other Mark Twain works" (Rasmussen).
"Tom Sawyer was the first printed story of a boy in which the hero was recognizable as a boy throughout the whole narrative … until Tom Sawyer was written, nearly all the boys of fiction were adults with a lisp, or saintly infants, or mischievous eccentrics … in the work of Dickens there were hints of boys that were boys; but Tom was the first full blown boy in all fiction … the book is a landmark" (Booth Tarkington).
This novel of a boy growing up along the Mississippi River is set in a town called St. Petersburg, inspired by Samuel Clemens's hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. The author may have been named Tom after a San Francisco fireman whom he met in June 1863. The real Tom Sawyer was a local hero, famous for rescuing ninety passengers after a shipwreck in 1853. The two were friendly during the author's years in California, often drinking and gambling together. Twain referred to the real Tom Sawyer in Roughing It, but in later years he claimed that he himself was the model for Tom and that "'Sawyer' was not the real name … of any person I ever knew, so far as I can remember" (see Smithsonian, October 2012).
This first edition was issued in England on June 9, 1876, preceding the American edition by six months. It proved to be his most popular work in his lifetime: "by the time Mark Twain died, it was his top selling book" (Rasmussen, 458).
The true first edition of Tom Sawyer is among the most difficult of the great 19th-century American novels to obtain in collector's condition.
Synopsis
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, is a popular 1876 novel about a young boy growing up in the antebellum South on the Mississippi River in the town of St. Petersberg, based on the town of Hannibal, Missouri.
Reviews
This Book about a kid with a Extraordinary adventures.
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Details
- Bookseller
- 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 42820756
- Title
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- Author
- Twain, Mark
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Chatto and Windus
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1876
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
Terms of Sale
19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop
About 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gatherings
- A term used in bookbinding, where a gathering of sheets is folded at the middle, then bound into the binding together. The...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
This Book’s Categories
- Children & Juvenile Children’s Fiction & Literature
- Fiction & Literature Fiction by Region American Fiction
- Fiction & Literature Classic Literature
- Fiction & Literature Historical Fiction
- Fiction & Literature Individual Authors Mark Twain
- Children & Juvenile Juvenile & Young Adult Juvenile Fiction & Literature Juvenile Classics