Pudd'nhead Wilson [with] Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar

Avon: The Limited Editions Club, 1974. Limited Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Very Good. 0x0x0. Groth, John. Signed by illustrator. Limited edition, #1182 of 2000 copies. Includes publisher's slipcase, onion skin jacket, and softcover calendar. Signed by illustrator and hand-numbered on limitation page. Jacket toned with minor loss along edges. 1974 Hard Cover. xiii, [5], 164; 39 pp. 8vo. Introduction by Edward Wagenknecht, illustrations to the original text and the calendar by John Groth. "First serialized in The Century Magazine between 1893 and 1894, Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson is a murder mystery set before the American Civil War in Missouri, more specifically, on the Mississippi River. During infancy, a light-skinned black baby and a white-skinned baby were switched at birth by a slave mother. Because the black baby grows up thinking he is white, he is highly racist toward his slaves. The white baby, who thinks he is a slave, grows up with no guidance and makes a living stealing, drinking, and doing other immoral things. During a murder trial, the town lawyer Puddn'head Wilson, who is seen as a peculiar fellow by the townsfolk, is able to expose the boys' true identities. Puddn'head Wilson is a story carried by themes of racism, Southern customs, and questions of identity. On the surface it is a witty and satirical tale but as one digs deeper a biting social commentary of racial inequality can be found.