The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - photo 1
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - photo 2
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - photo 3

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Lot 159
15.06.2023 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Starting price
$ 20 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 967664
Lot 159 | The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Estimate value
$ 20 000 – 30 000
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain, 1885.

CLEMENS, Samuel (“Mark Twain,” 1835-1910). The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885.



First American edition, in publisher’s morocco with the rare first state of the illustration on p. 283. Portrait frontispiece with sculptor’s name on the shoulder, State 3 of title but no priority acknowledged, State 1 of p. [13], p. 57 and p. 155, without 11 signature on p. 161, and the original first state of the illustration on p. 283. While gathering advance subscriptions to Huckleberry Finn, traveling salesmen pitched expensively bound copies in morocco and sheep as Christmas gifts. These fine copies included an innocent illustration of Silas Phelps on p. 283, which showed a very slight curve at the fly of his trousers. The present copy is one of those few.



After the initial distribution of these special copies, an unknown individual defaced the plate on p. 283 with a vulgar embellishment of Silas’s genitals. By the time the altered plate was discovered, thousands of copies had been printed. To avoid massive financial losses and tarnishing Twain’s reputation as a decent and moral man, each leaf depicting the explicit image was cut out and replaced with a new engraving. This new illustration eliminated all curvature (as was found in the prospectus) and replaced Silas’s fly with a straight line. As the defacement occurred only after the advance sheets were shipped to be bound, the plate in its first state only exists in the prospectus and in early copies in publisher’s morocco. First editions with the first state illustration are therefore scarce and prized by collectors. BAL 3415; Johnson, 43; Grolier American 87.



Octavo (213 x 160mm). Lithographic frontispiece by E.W. Kemble, photographic portrait of Twain by Karl Gerhardt. Publisher’s half morocco gilt, marbled boards with a gilt stamped spine; marbled edges and endpapers (worn).

Artist:Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
15.06.2023
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

More from Creator

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
$13 000
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
$100
The Prince and the Pauper, on china paper
The Prince and the Pauper, on china paper
$100
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
$15 000
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
$18 000
Grant's Memoirs, Inscribed to Capt. Frank Mason
Grant's Memoirs, Inscribed to Capt. Frank Mason
$100
The Prince and the Pauper
The Prince and the Pauper
$1 000
Life on the Mississippi
Life on the Mississippi
$20 000

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.