Twain, Mark [Clemens, S.L.]

8vo (214 x 164mm.), FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR TO J.B. POND ("To | Major J.B. Pond | With the affections of | Mark Twain | Feb. 21/85") on the preliminary blank, AND FURTHER EXTENSIVELY INSCRIBED BY POND ("This is the first copy that the author ever set his eyes on..."), second state portrait frontispiece (with the imprint of the Heliotype Printing Company and with "Karl Gerhardt, Sc." added to the finished edge of the shoulder), half-title, illustrations by E.W. Kemble, PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL HALF MOROCCO, marbled edges, marbled endpapers, collector's red cloth chemise and slipcase, rebacked preserving original spine, boards slightly rubbed, one spot of soiling above text on title page, pp.147-152 with minor loss from each upper corner not affecting text 

BAL 3415; Grolier/American 87; Johnson (1972) pp.43-50

Condition is as described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate. There is a minor tear at the foot of the portrait frontispiece at the gutter. There is also a spot of soiling to the title-page.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

AN IMPORTANT PRESENTATION COPY OF "HUCKLEBERRY FINN".

Major James Burton Pond (1838-1903) became a lecture manager after a distinguished career in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Pond was hired by Twain in the summer of 1884 to oversee his lengthy 1884-1885 lecture tour which would encompass eighty cities and number over a hundred performances.

Twain had contracted author George Washington Cable (1844-1925) to join to the tour, and together Pond billed them as "the twins of genius". Despite Twain's continual complaints about the length of Cable's readings (Twain wrote to his wife in the winter of 1884 that that "there has been a thundering sight too much" Cable in the show), the tour was a critical and commercial success, earning Twain $17,000.

These lectures included some of Twain's first readings from Huckleberry Finn, the publication of which was planned for the winter of 1884. However, as a result of the infamous "alteration" to the Uncle Silias illustration, publication was delayed and the offending leaf was cut out of the copies which had already been bound and replaced by a new printing of the plate.

As Johnson acknowledges: "Bibliographically, Huckleberry Finn presents what is probably the most amazing and mystifying problem of any American publication". However, in accordance with Pond's own account of his copy being "the first copy the author ever set eyes on", the book conforms to the bibliographical points of an early state copy: the copyright notice dated 1884 (BAL state 1 with the copyright notice dated 1885 is known only in Charles L. Webster's own copy); illustration Him and another Man listed at p.88 (BAL state 1); eleventh line from the bottom of p.57 reading "with the was" (BAL state 1); "Who do you reckon it is?" illustration on p.283 featuring the original state curved fly (BAL state 1); the page number on p.155 lacking the final numeral (BAL state 1[?]); and the final leaf a blank.