ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Twain Mark - 1885

New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, FIRST PRINTING with BAL's first state frontispiece with the cloth visible, and very early issue points: "was" for "saw" on p.57; and the Illustrations list p.[13] shows "Him and another Man" plate as appearing on p.88; p. 155 with the final “5” restored. With 174 black and white illustrations by E.W. Kemble. Square 8vo, publisher’s original green cloth elaborately decorated in gilt and black on the covers and spine, now housed in a custom slipcase with wraparound chemise. 366 pp. An excellent, handsome, well preserved and pleasing copy of this enduring classic. The cloth still nice and dark green with the gilt and black still strong on the upper cover, the giltwork on the spine well preserved, only very minor evidence of age or use to the tips and edges, the text-block very clean and the binding tight and firm. A fine survival of a cornerstone work, in collector's condition. THE FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND GREATEST BOOKS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE. "ALL MODERN AMERICAN LITERATURE COMES FROM ONE BOOK BY MARK TWAIN CALLED HUCKLEBERRY FINN"--Ernest Hemingway.
Along with TOM SAWYER, HUCKLEBERRY FINN is considered the stepping stone to modern American literature. And along with Tom Sawyer, for the first time, the hero of the novel was a boy. These books are landmarks and Hemingway often offered his opinion that the modern novel would have been impossible without them. With Whitman’s LEAVES OF GRASS and Melville’s MOBY DICK, they provide us with a view of America transcending its past and beginning its future.