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Roughing It by Mark Twain, 1st Edition, 2nd Printing [164156]

Currency:USD Category:Books / Antiquarian & Collectible Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 - 800.00 USD
Roughing It by Mark Twain, 1st Edition, 2nd Printing [164156]
SOLD
375.00USD+ (93.75) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2023 Jun 16 @ 12:54UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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First edition, second printing with attractive binding. Hartford: American Publishing Company, etc., 1872. 591pp with appendix. Two engraved frontispieces, 6 engraved plates, numerous text illustrations by True W. Williams and other artists. 8vo, original dark brown gilt-pictorial cloth. Ex. John J. Ford Jr. Numismatic Library. Roughing It is Sam Clemens's massive, 600-page semi-autobiographical account of his six-year sojourn in the West. A master of understatement, he wrote in the prefatory material, "This book is merely a personal narrative.... It is a record of several years of variegated vagabondizing." The book was his only major work to be written specifically about the West and majestically displays his amazing ability to combine humor and tall tales with serious factual reporting. Without doubt, it ranks as one of the all-time favorite American travel books and, because of its author, one of the most studied and analyzed works of Western Americana. San Francisco's Overland Monthly reviewed the book in June 1872 noting, "His genius is characterized by the breadth, and ruggedness, and audacity of the West." Roughing It further documents Clemens's evolution as a writer in turning the personal narrative into an art form. Harriet Elinor Smith, in introducing the Mark Twain Project edition, explains: "The experiences described in Roughing It illuminate how the freedom and spontaneity of the frontier helped him to develop as a writer, encouraging him to experiment and cultivate a distinctive style." Western mining historian Rodman Paul, in describing the brilliance of the book, states that it is "as if Mark Twain, with his slow drawl and casual manner were telling the story orally and extemporaneously."

Date: 1872
Country (if not USA):
State: Nevada
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