"Be good and you shall be lonesome" is lithographed and signed in Mark Twain's handwriting, on the frontispiece of this original edition of his Following the Equator. The words are written underneath a photo of Twain aboard a tramp steamer, feet up on the railing. The book was copyrighted by his wife, Olivia L. Clemens, in 1897, and the proper printer's mark is located on the proper page inside the text for a first edition.
Unfortunately, this book lived in a trunk full of books and legal papers for most of it's 113 years. Sounds good, but the trunk was rifled through quite often and this book ended up on the bottom, with no special care given to its unbelievably rare status. The cover is torn from the binding, and the leather binding itself has dried out and broken into 15-16 pieces, which I have in a baggy to save them until I can have the book properly restored. The pages of the book itself are in outstanding condition, but most people judge a book by its cover, and this one is shot. Still, a first edition Mark Twain is something to treasure, no matter what the condition as far as I'm concerned.
I just bought the Autobiography of Mark Twain Volume I. When the book arrived I was overwhelmed. It is 736 pages of which 266 contain the autobiography, the rest are references, resources, explanatory notes etc, etc...... yikes. I will curl up and read the 266 pages but my student days are over or a desire to write about Mark Twain so I will pass on the other 500 pages. But it's nice to know it's there if I ever need it. lol One day it too will be an old book...
ReplyDeleteya gotta love authors with PhDs and a lot of time to do research, lol!
ReplyDelete"Be good and you shall be lonesome"- is the motto of my life,lol. I do question the being good part though.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that an awesome saying? I'd like it on my tombstone, but I'll probably be cremated and spread in the wind on some cliff overlooking the water.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should start an Internet Tombstone site, where we could post what we would like said, especially for those cremated. It would be so practical.
ReplyDeleteI think I have this!!!!! I'm trying to check if it's an original. It has the same picture, a slightly different autograph but the the same saying, and same tree.
ReplyDeleteCan you please tell me what a printer's mark and what I should be looking for... thank you! If it is an original, then it will be my most prized possession!!!!