A CATALOGUE OF AUTOGRAPHS LETTERS, ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS BEING COMPOSED OF JAMES R. OSGOOD'S COLLECTION AND OTHER VALUABLE AND DESIRABLE SPECIMENS RECENTLY PURCHASED, FORMING IN ALL ONE OF THE FINEST ASSORTMENTS EVER OFFERED FOR SALE IN AMERICA MARCH 4, 1886.

Benjamin, William Evarts. ( Mark Twian Assoc. ).

click image to zoom

Place Published: New York:
Publisher: William Evarts Benjamin,
Date Published: 1886
Condition: Paperback. Good.
Book Id: 234766

Description

1st edition, Pale green printed and illustrated green wraps. 36 pp. The fragile wraps have some shallow edge chipping, leaves uniformly tanned, a couple of pen marks on front cover including, in a neat hand at top, three author last names and the page on which their item appears. A decent copy of a very fragile item. Osgood is best remembered for publishing Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper and Life on the Mississippi as well as Bret Harte's The Luck of Roaring Camp and an 1881 edition of Leaves of Grass. Despite these successes Osgood went bankrupt in 1885 and one can surmise that this sale was an attempt to pay off debt. Evarts, also a publisher, was a friend of Twain's and this probably was his way of helping a mutual friend dispose of his collection. Many of the items are, needless to say, somewhat spectacular with material from Poe, Emerson, Shelly, Lincoln, Harte, O. W. Holmes and many others. Osgood is best remembered for publishing Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper and Life on the Mississippi as well as Bret Harte's The Luck of Roaring Camp and an 1881 edition of Leaves of Grass. Despite these successes Osgood went bankrupt in 1885 and one can surmise that this sale was an attempt to pay off debt. Evarts, also a publisher, was a friend of Twain's and this probably was his way of helping a mutual friend dispose of his collection. Many of the items are, needless to say, somewhat spectacular with material from Poe, Emerson, Shelly, Lincoln, Harte, O. W. Holmes and many others.