LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI

Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1883. First edition, first state, intermediate state B. Original brown pictorial cloth, gilt. Near fine copy with only minor rubbing at spine ends. Without the illustration of Twain's head in flames at p. 441, but with the caption "St. Louis Hotel" at p. 443. Twain considered this work to be his masterpiece. Chapter 31 contains the first use of fingerprints to solve a crime in fiction, described by Colin Wilson as "a remarkable anticipation of a scientific discovery that was then known to less than half a dozen men." Queen's Quorum, p. 45. BAL 3411. (Inventory #: 24181)