I have been in the rare and antiquarian book business for over forty years; my family has been in the rare books business since 1876. Rare books are in my blood.
Mark Twain's A Dog's Tale
Metuchen, New Jersey: Printed for the Editor, 1931. Item #01050
Limited to Seventy-One Copies
[TWAIN, Mark]. UNDERHILL, Irving. Mark Twain's A Dog's Tale. Printed for the Editor of The American Book Collector, 1931.
First edition, limited to seventy-one numbered copies, this being copy 32. Octavo (8 1/8 x 5 1/8 in; 206 x 130 mm). 19, [1, blank] pp.
Publisher's original printed string bound wrappers. A fine copy.
An extremely scarce private-press issue of Mark Twain’s poignant and deceptively simple short story, originally published in 1904 and widely regarded as one of his most affecting moral fables. Narrated from a dog’s perspective, A Dog’s Tale blends sentiment, satire, and quiet cruelty to explore themes of loyalty, sacrifice, and human indifference—anticipating the darker, more skeptical tone of Twain’s late prose.
Issued in an edition of only seventy-one copies for Irving Underhill, editor of The American Book Collector, this printing was clearly intended for a small circle of bibliophiles rather than the general market. Copies are rarely encountered, particularly in such fine condition. As both a desirable Twain curiosity and a product of early twentieth-century American bibliophilic culture, it makes an appealing addition to collections focused on Twain, private press printing, or literary ephemera.
BAL Sec. II, p. 253, col. 1.
Price: $150.00