To Unidentified
9 May 1867 • (Sales catalog, inscription in The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Christie’s, New York, 5 December 1991, lot 182)
9 May 1867 • (Sales catalog, inscription in The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Christie’s, New York, 5 December 1991, lot 182)
To [name of recipient torn away]Ⓐemendation
With compliments of
Mark Twain
New York, May 29/67.
Emendations and Textual Notes
Ⓐ To [name of recipient torn away] ● [To’, with which Clemens almost invariably begins each inscription, has been added to the
text to accord with his general practice, as it was most likely torn away along with
the recipient’s name]
Sales catalog, inscription in The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Christie’s, New York, 5 December 1991, lot 182. According to the catalog, the book was “inscribed by Clemens on the blank recto of the cream-yellow advertisement leaf (printed ads are on the verso) before title-page . . . (the upper 1½ inches of this leaf undoubtedly bearing the name of the recipient of Twain’s inscription have been torn away and this piece as been replaced with a matching section, with printed ads on the verso, from the advertisement of another copy).”
None known.
In 1970, the book was in the possession of Ralph Gregory, at the Mark Twain Birthplace and Shrine, Florida, Missouri. It was seen by Allen Gribben, who noted that it had been “inscribed by SLC . . . in ink. Recipient’s name (in pencil, above) has been completely erased.” The book with its remaining inscription was sold in 1991 by Christie’s as Property of the Estate of Chester L. Davis (1903–87).
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.