FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR. A Journey around the World.
Hartford: The American Publishing Company, 1897. Original blue cloth with front cover plate and gilt-decorated spine.
First Edition, with the title page in what is generally considered the first state (with no mention of McClure). This was Twain's travel narrative (beginning in Vancouver and ending in Cape Town, by way of Australia and India), illustrated by eleven artists of the day, with which he had "hoped to make good the tangled finances of the ill-fated publishing firm, Charles L. Webster & Company, of which Mark himself was the company" [Johnson]. It was Twain's last travel book, and it was also the last of his books to be sold on a subscription basis.
As with most copies, the signature mark "11" is present on page 161 -- but this is not an issue point, as priority is unknown. This is an attractive, near-fine copy (some rubbing of the cover plate and at the extremities). Blanck 3451; Johnson pp 65-68. Item #13731
Price: $375.00