THE MAN THAT CORRUPTED HADLEYBURG and Other Stories and Essays.
Illustrated. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1900. 2 pp undated ads. Original red cloth with front cover monogram device in gilt.
First Edition, first issue. The title story, one of Twain's darker themes, is "a parable about a smug all-American town whose citizens, never having been tempted, take pride in their honesty. A stranger sets in motion a test of their honor, and they fail" [MacDonnell].
The first issue, as here, has sheets bulking 1-1/16 inch and has "[page 2" on the plate facing page 2. Condition is fine except for one little nick in the rear cover fore-edge; there is scarcely any of the fading of the spine that is typical for these red turn-of-the-century Twain titles. There is an endpaper signature dated August 1900, two months after publication -- in Des Moines, tying in with the ears of corn in the binding monogram. This first edition (bearing the date 1900 on the FRONT of the title leaf) is curiously scarce. McBride p. 200; Blanck 3459. Item #15027
Price: $725.00