EVERYBODY'S FRIEND
by Billings, Josh [Shaw, Henry Wheeler]
[Twain, Mark] [Clemens, S. L.] Billings, Josh [Shaw, Henry Wheeler]. EVERYBODY'S FRIEND. Hartford: American Publishing Co., 1874. First edition. Original black cloth, gilt. Illustrated by Thomas Nast. Spine ends and corners frayed, else a very good copy. Includes the first book printing of Twain's letter to Billings making fun of his spelling, at pages 573-75. Billings had published this letter in his `Spice-Box' newspaper column in `The New York Weekly' in July, 1873. Early in his career Twain was influenced by the comic writers known as the "Phunny Phellows" (Billings, Ward, etc.) but soon moved beyond their tiresome bag of tricks that included phonetic spelling. BAL, Johnson, et al, overlooked this Twain first book printing, although BAL does record the book (BAL 17455) as a Shaw primary edition. (Inventory #: 22618)