Book

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published in 1884 and written by Mark Twain (also known as Samuel Clemens). The novel is a first person narrative, spoken by the main character ‘Huck.’ The story takes place in Missouri, in a town along the Mississippi river. Twain himself grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, also in a town situated alongside the Mississippi River (A Life Lived in a Rapidly Changing World: Samuel L. Clemens‚ 1835-1910, The Mark Twain House & Museum). Being raised in a southern-American community gave context and situated this book. In an “attempt to gain control over publication” and increase profit, Twain created the publication company  Charles L. Webster Company, whose first publication was Huckleberry Finn  (A Life Lived in a Rapidly Changing World: Samuel L. Clemens‚ 1835-1910, The Mark Twain House & Museum).

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn follows the relationship between Huck and a black slave, Jim. Huck struggles with the feeling of responsibility to do right by Jim; helping him escape to freedom. The issue of morality is introduced early on as Huck questions the conventions and influences from his religious southern community. The plot follows suit narrating the growing relationship between the two characters. Ultimately, Huck helps Jim escape from his owner, Miss Watson. The story continues by chronicling the journey they go on, floating down the Mississippi River on a raft they find. Despite the former success in Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn took on a new and more serious narrative that focused on institutions, slavery and the antebellum south (A&E Television Networks, 2018).

There were only approximately 500 printed first edition copies of the rare publisher’s morocco, shown in this exhibit (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Raptis Rare Books). The hard cover text is bound in three-quarters brown morocco binding, with “marbled boards, gilt-decorated spine and marbled endpapers.”(Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Raptis Rare Books). On the spine the title is engraved in gold lettering. There are brown and gold specks on the front cover, along with engraved lines that look to be somewhat faded. On the front cover there are also a few scratches. For safety and protective measures, Raptis Rare books, who sells this edition for $10,500.00, has re-backed the spine with “light rubbing to the bottom cloth” and has kept the copy “in a custom half morocco clamshell box” (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Raptis Rare Books). The book contains 174 black and white illustrations that were drawn by E.W. Kemble.