A Near Fine copy of the book, boards and spine extremely bright and fresh. A bit of wear at the spine ends and corners, one small tear in the cloth repaired at the lower edge of the front board. Morocco bookplate of George Staehle on the front paste-down, some offsetting on the endpaper opposite. With all three generally accepted first printing points. Also with a facsimile of the offensive plate on p. 283 laid in. Housed in an old-style cloth jacket with slipcase.

Recounting the adventures of Huckleberry Finn as he flees his own abusive father and aids Jim in his escape from slavery, Twain's novel has been praised for its "distinctly American voice," putting at its center two common people who find an uncommon friendship. "Today perhaps the novel’s greatest significance lies in its conception of childhood, as a time of risk, discovery, and adventure. Huck is no innocent: He lies, steals, smokes, swears, and skips school. He accepts no authority, not from his father or the Widow Douglas or anyone else. And it is the twin images of a perilous, harrowing odyssey of adventure and perfect freedom from all restraints that so many readers find entrancing" (Mintz). A metaphor for a young and rebellious nation, as well as its individualist inhabitants, Huckleberry Finn defies genre by being simultaneously an adventure story, a road novel, a coming of age tale, an expression of nostalgia for the expansive natural spaces lost to industrialization, and an exploration of race and class. Listed on the American Scholar 100 Best American Novels and one of the 100 Best Novels Written in English.

BAL 3415. MacDonnell, 31. Near Fine (Item #5250)