Bidspirit auction | Twain, Mark. The Writings of

Twain, Mark. The Writings of Mark Twain. Harper & Brothers, c. 1899-1917. Author's National Edition. - A set of antique octavo-sized volumes from the Author's National Edition of The Writings of Mark Twain, published by Harper & Brothers in New York and London. The collection is bound in olive-green publisher's cloth with blind-stamped titles and volume numbers on the spines. The titles included are The Innocents Abroad (Vols. I and II), Roughing It (Vols. I and II), A Tramp Abroad (Vols. I and II), Following the Equator (Vol. I), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Vol. XII), Pudd'nhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins (Vol. XIV), and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Vol. XVI). A flyleaf in several volumes bears a printed facsimile signature and authentication statement reading: This is the authorized Uniform Edition of all my books. Mark Twain. The copyright pages indicate multiple dates including 1899, 1907, 1913, and 1917, with copyrights held by Samuel L. Clemens, Olivia L. Clemens, and Clara Gabrilowitsch. A handwritten ink inscription on the front flyleaf of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer reads: The 'Twist Boys' Oct. 8-1921. The volumes feature illustrated frontispieces and internal plates, including a portrait of the author from 1884 in the Connecticut Yankee volume and earlier portraits from 1853 and 1868 in The Innocents Abroad. This antique set shows significant wear consistent with age and use. The cloth bindings exhibit heavy fraying and material loss at the head and foot of the spines across the entire set (photos 1, 2, 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72). Fading and sunning are evident on the spine cloth. Internally, the hinges are tender, with a visible split to the gutter of the front flyleaf in the Tom Sawyer volume (photo 58). The text blocks show uniform toning and occasional foxing, primarily to the edges and prelims. Minor damp staining is visible on the title page of Roughing It Vol. II (photo 48).