BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER

THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. New York: New York Common Prayer and Book Society, 1853. First edition thus. Original full sheep, gilt, morocco label, gilt. Worn, but a solid copy in the original publisher's binding. Twain arrived in New York City after leaving St. Louis and went to work as a type-setter at John Gray's firm on Monday, August 29, 1853 and stayed there until mid-October, when he left for Philadelphia. He wrote home to his mother on August 31, saying that he and forty other type-setters set type for an "immense" number of books and several magazines like The Knickerbocker, New York Recorder, Choral Advocate, Jewish Chronicle, Littell's Living Age, and the Irish American. Most of the books published by Gray in 1853 were religious pamphlets and some anti-slavery texts; this is one of the few substantial books he published that year. Gray's four story building was next-door to the huge Harper Brothers (pre-fire) complex and it is possible that they were also farmed out work by Harper for publications without using their own printer's slug. (Inventory #: 22909)