The American Claimant

New York: Charles L. Webster & Co., 1892 With a frontispiece and 23 black and white line drawings by Daniel Carter Beard. First edition, first printing. Publisher's gray-green cloth, with front board and spine illustrated in black and lettered in gilt. Near fine, with light rubbing to spine and corners, small mark to center of rear board, and very light soiling to a few pages including rear free endpaper. Overall, a handsome copy, with a bold front board decoration. BAL 3434. The American Claimant is propelled by a series of mistaken identities and role-switches, a popular plot device used by Twain in other books like The Prince and the Pauper (1881) and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889). The book features the character Colonel Mulberry Sellers, who appeared in Twain's first novel, The Gilded Age (1873), as Colonel Beriah Sellers (the name change is explained in an explanatory note at the beginning of the book). In a humorous touch, Twain claims at the beginning of the book that American Claimant will not include any mention of the weather, with all weather-related descriptions being relegated to the appendix. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine.