A Bibliography of the Collections of the Mark Twain Memorial and the Stowe-Day Foundation.

Mark Twain's place in American literature is secure. And the place of his books in the libraries of scholars, collectors and just plain readers is likewise secure. This sustaining interest is evidenced, in part, by the content of this book. The multiplicity of reprints, many with new introductions, comments and so forth, show that Mark Twain's books continually move people to put words on paper for one reason or another. The many children's editions and adaptations confirm the simplicity and power of his characters and their adventures. The many foreign editions attest to the universality of his works. The endless stream of scholarly investigation of Mark Twain, his contemporaries and his writings prove the depth and complexity of the man and his creations. While other major figures in American literature are often grouped into schools or styles, Mark Twain stands alone, atop them all.

Merle Johnson compiled the first Mark Twain Bilbiography in 1910. It was revised in 1935 by Jacob Blanck, who went on to produce the monumental and indispensable Bibliography of American Literature in 1957. Blanck's three sections on Mark Twain in BAL, together with Johnson's two editions, have stood for decades as the basic refence on Mark Twain. Tom Tenney contributed greatly to Mark Twain scholarship with the publication of Mark Twain: A Reference Guide (G.K. Hall & Co., Boston) in 1977 and the issuing of two updates since then. Even with all the fine work available, there was no single volume that covered the full breadth of Mark Twain's writings.

To produce a book at once useful to the collector and the book dealer, the librarian and the scholar, is the aim here. To satisfy the collector and the dealer, photographs of each cover, title page and points of issue (where they occur) are shown; this aids in quick identification of first editions. To assist the librarian and the scholar, primary and secondary works of Mark Twain are organized chronologically and a full section devoted to works of criticism and biography are included. This section is keyed by Tenney reference numbers and a fuller summary of content may be found in his book and supplements. Every letter from Mark Twain that the Stowe-Day Foundation and Mark Twain Memorial own are here summarized. Samples of first pages of letters are shown photographically; these were selected at five year intervals from about 1865 to 1909. Complete indexes of names, titles, publishers and illustrators follow the main text.

Optionally SIGNED by compiler Bill McBride with inscription of your choice; please specify in "Notes" when ordering.