Lot 255: CLEMENS, Samuel L. ("Mark Twain," 1835-1910). The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Stories. Edited by John Paul [Charles Henry Webb]. New York: C.H. Webb, 1867.

12 o. 1-page publisher's advertisement at front. Original red bevelled cloth, with gilt frog at lower left corner of the front cover, blind impression in lower left corner of the rear cover, gilt-lettered on front cover and spine (inner hinges weak, ends of spine worn, corners bumped, some discoloration); quarter morocco folding case. FIRST EDITION OF THE AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK, FIRST ISSUE, with the leaf of ads and unbroken type on pages 21, 66 and 198. Ellery Queen notes that Twain's first book is the "first important foreshadowing of crime-in-the-ascendancy in the short story... This acknowledged classic of legend and folklore is an early example of the confidence game in fiction. If this statement surprises you, reread Mark Twain's tale of trickery and ask yourself: When the slick stranger filled Jim Smiley's frog, Dan'l Webster, full of quail-shot, wasn't he really playing a clever skin game?" ( Queen's Quorum 7). BAL 3310; Seven Gables First Books 58.