The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, And other Sketches (Presentation copy)

New York: C. H. Webb, 1867. First edition. Good. Presentation copy, inscribed on the blank recto of the advertisement leaf: "With compliments of Mark Twain New York, May 9, 1867." The original recipient's name has been torn away (and the advertisement leaf has been repaired with a section from another first edition copy). The novel was published in April 25, 1867, making this one of the earliest presentation copies known. The copy Twain presented to his mother was dated May 1st, and two other copies were dated May 10th (the day Twain gave a lecture at the Brooklyn Athenaeum). This copy last sold in 1991 at Christies in the Chester L. Davis sale. Another (truncated) early presentation copy for John Stanton (Cory O'Lanus) sold in 2004 for $114,000.

First edition, first issue of Mark Twain’s first book. This copy features the gilt stamp of the leaping frog in the lower left corner, rather than centered on the board; it has all of the points of a first issue as delineated by BAL, including the leaf of ads by the title page and unbroken type on pages 21, 66 and 198. The book has been carefully restored with a new spine (with the original spine laid down) and new endpapers. There is faint dampstaining throughout and the dampstaining to the inscribed leaf matches up with the rest of the book. Pencil notations to verso of final blank, including what looks like a name: C. Wood. And while it is not the only known presentation copy of Jumping Frog, this is undoubtedly one of a handful of copies of the first issue extant and the first to hit the market since the auction result in 2004. Housed in a simple, quarter-leather slipcase with chemise.

Mark Twain, with his account of the jumping frog, produced the most famous tale in California history – if not the history of the American West. This little gem of humor propelled the author and his first book to international prominence. As his publisher, Charles Henry Webb, noted, "By his story of the Frog, he scaled the heights of popularity at a single jump." Twain’s compilation of tales, along with those of Bret Harte, continues to romanticize and popularize the Gold Rush. The story of the lead-loaded frog (named Daniel Webster) made Angels Camp one of the best-known tourist attractions in the gold country. Twain first learned of the story of the jumping frog when he prospected in the vicinity of Jackass Hill in Tuolumne County. On a rainy January day in 1865 Twain and a friend, James Gillis, went into the bar at the Angels Camp Hotel in nearby Calaveras County and heard a gentleman by the name of Ben Coon tell the amusing story of the trained frog. He repeated the story to Artemus Ward, who in turn encouraged him to write it up and send it to Ward’s publisher, Carleton, in New York. The tale’s popularity spread across America and Europe until it was collected in the present volume.

Zamorano 80. Huntington Library, Exhibition of Famous and Notorious California Classics, 17. Johnson, Twain, pp. 3-9. LC. Good. (Inventory #: 7260)