A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
- New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1889
New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1889. First edition. Very Good +. Second state lacking: "The S King" on p. 59 and with damaged type on p. 72, but this copy with the extremely scarce half-title. "Most collectors are content with a copy with early states of pages 59 and 72, and any copy with the extremely rare half-title is coveted regardless of the other states" (Kevin MacDonnell, "Collecting Mark Twain...") A Very Good+ copy overall with a dampstain affecting the lower spine and lower boards near the spine. Several of the early leaves with a faint tide-mark near the gutter. Front inner hinge professionally repaired. Contemporary 1889 Christmas gift inscription on the first blank, otherwise internal contents are generally fresh and clean.
One of the great humorist's classic works. "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court" follows the adventures of an engineer who is sent backwards in time to the Middle Ages – and the realm of King Arthur. Twain worked on the book in stops and starts in the 1880s, before finishing it in 1889. Strangely enough, along with some contemporary works by H.G. Wells and Edward Bellamy, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court" is considered one of the early works in the science fiction, “time-travel” genre. “…we feel that in this book our arch-humorist imparts more of his personal quality than in anything else he has done. Here he is to the full the humorist, as we know him; but he is very much more…. The delicious satire, the marvellous wit, the wild, free, fantastic humor are the colors of the tapestry, while the texture is a humanity that lives in every fibre. At every moment the scene amuses, but it is all the time an object-lesson in democracy. It makes us glad of our republic and our epoch; but it does not flatter us into a fond content with them” (William Dean Howells in the Atlantic). Very Good +.
One of the great humorist's classic works. "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court" follows the adventures of an engineer who is sent backwards in time to the Middle Ages – and the realm of King Arthur. Twain worked on the book in stops and starts in the 1880s, before finishing it in 1889. Strangely enough, along with some contemporary works by H.G. Wells and Edward Bellamy, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court" is considered one of the early works in the science fiction, “time-travel” genre. “…we feel that in this book our arch-humorist imparts more of his personal quality than in anything else he has done. Here he is to the full the humorist, as we know him; but he is very much more…. The delicious satire, the marvellous wit, the wild, free, fantastic humor are the colors of the tapestry, while the texture is a humanity that lives in every fibre. At every moment the scene amuses, but it is all the time an object-lesson in democracy. It makes us glad of our republic and our epoch; but it does not flatter us into a fond content with them” (William Dean Howells in the Atlantic). Very Good +.