Thank goodness, Kevin weighed in.

Kevin, friend, apologies. Indeed I did lift my "facts" from your 1998 
article and I inflated your numbers given by 20%. That's how I came up with 
my numbers.



Be that as it may, I studiously ignore the value of my AHF each time I don 
surgical gloves to give it a good read. It was after all, the (are you 
ready?) collecting of the book, that lead to the reading of the book that 
lead to the researching of the volume that lead to Firsts magazine that lead 
to Albert Bigelow Paine that led to Merle Johnson, to BAL, to Rasmussen to 
Hirst and to the Mark Twain Forum culminating in me jumping on a jet and 
flying to Elmira(!) where I met up with all of you.



One last word; my rare old volume of AHF will one day pass away, its worth 
is limited. But of unyielding value to me are the memories I made in Elmira; 
the kindness, warmth and genuine friendship of people I hardly knew yet were 
so good to me, the scholarly presentations they brought, the conversations 
on the veranda at break time, the food as good as anything that could be 
conjured up on Quarles' farm and the cigars that got smoked under the stars 
at Quarry farm; the quiet time I stole for myself to stand alone on the site 
of the Octagon and then to descend the hill only to run into Hal Holbrook 
standing alone behind the kitchen; and the laughter-the unabated, liquid, 
lasting laughter that we shared--- these things defy appraisal, are rare and 
precious beyond counting. My dear old volume of AHF would gladly be tossed 
aside by me for one more day in that warm summer sun of Elmira in the 
company of all of you.



Yours

Rick Talbot

"Mark Twain Scholar"


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, September 06, 2009 12:45 PM
Subject: Re: which edition of AHF?


> The information Richard Talbot quotes is from my 1998 Mark Twain article 
> in
> `Firsts Magazine', except that the figures I gave in 1998 were $5,000 and
> $3,000 (not the $6,000 and $3,500 in his quote; do they appear that way
> someplace online?). But either way, that info. is out-of-date.
>
> However, I wrote a lengthy ten-year update that was published in the
> September, 2008 issue of `Firsts Magazine', giving updated market
> information on all Twain first editions, a review of internet trends as 
> they
> apply to Twain books, a report on prominent scholars and collectors who
> passed away during the last ten years, and a [briefer than I would have
> liked] book-by-book review of new scholarly books published about Twain in
> the last ten years. Here's what I said about HF in that article--
>
> "Fine first printings of this book in leather or in blue cloth were in the
> market in 1998 for $5,000, and green copies could be had for $3,000. These
> days, the leather and blue cloth copies can fetch $30,000 or more, and 
> green
> cloth copies will bring $8,000 and up. Copies in average (or even hideous)
> condition are common, and comprise the vast majority of copies that are
> being offered these days. They should (but don't always) have much lower
> prices attached to them."
>
> The most important words in my statement are the first three, "fine first
> printings."  If a copy is not truly fine, or not a first printing, then 
> the
> third sentence of my statement applies. Bunged up copies in green cloth of
> the second printing can be found for a few hundred bucks. I've sold a 
> doggy
> copy for $200. I've sold beat-up first printings in green cloth for $800 
> to
> $1,500. Better copies bring better prices, but it's a slow climb to "fine"
> and those top-drawer prices. Those later Webster and Osgood books show up 
> in
> better shape than Twain's early American Publishing Co. editions (because
> they were on better paper, better sewn, not so bulky, and bound in better
> quality cloth) so "average" and even "very good" copies of HF and the 
> other
> post-1882 titles are fairly common. I know of two green cloth first 
> printing
> copies for sale in the market right now (not by me) that are priced 
> $15,000,
> and you can find a pack of doggy copies on eBay any day of the week. There
> are a lot of copies in a variety of conditions (and bindings, and 
> printings)
> that fall somewhere in between $200 and $30,000.
>
> Full disclosure: I don't get a dime from `Firsts Magazine' when they sell 
> an
> issue of their magazine. If you want to read my entire article you can
> obtain that September, 2008 issue (they deliberately overprinted my 1998 
> and
> 2008 issues to meet demand) by going to www.firsts.com and clicking on the
> "back issue" tab and then clicking on "2008" etc, etc.  A single back 
> issue
> costs $10.  If you buy books online (not just Twain), or if you've 
> published
> a book about Twain in the last ten years and are looking for something
> blurby to use in promoting your book, or if you died during that time and
> are worried that I may have overlooked you, you should find this article
> rewarding.
>
> Kevin
> @
> Mac Donnell Rare Books
> 9307 Glenlake Drive
> Austin TX 78730
> 512-345-4139
> [log in to unmask]
> Member: ABAA, ILAB
> **************************
> You may browse our books at
> www.macdonnellrarebooks.com
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Richard Talbot" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, September 06, 2009 10:14 AM
> Subject: Re: which edition of AHF?
>
>
>> Hello Hal,
>>
>> How much? The collector's  value should be determined by Keven or some
> idiot
>> with a fat check book. Below is a collector's summary as written by 
>> Kevin.
>>
>> My copy is a green cloth first edition, first state, and my wife won't
> tell
>> me what she paid, but I'm going to guess it to be around $3,500.
>>
>> The true value of any Mark Twain book comes in its reading. There is an
>> abiding pleasure that comes each time I sit with one of these old volumes
> in
>> my lap. The musty aroma of the 125-year-old text rises up to meet my nose
>> and as always, I run my fingertips over the smooth, slick glassy surface
> of
>> the polished paper. Scanning the text these dots of ink transform
> themselves
>> into letters, words and sentences that bring people and places and things
>> alive with meaning once more. What you hold in your hands becomes
>> literature, and to relive-whenever I want-- the angst of Huck as he
> battles
>> his conscience as his nearly-failed deliberate deception of nigger Jim's
>> presence nearby in the skiff plays out once more; to be there as he is
>> questioned by bounty hunters searching up and down the river-well, it's
>> thrilling. That's all there is to say, it's thrilling. That is the 
>> highest
>> and truest value of any one of my books.
>>
>> In this simple act, I am able to bestow upon Twain the author and Clemens
>> the man the thing that I suspect he longed for; recognition and
>> near-immortality. And upon myself I bestow regality, as no other than man
>> can read and be transported by this complex act.
>>
>>
>>
>> From Kevin Mac Donnell:
>>
>> ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN. New York: Charles L. Webster and Co.,
> 1885.
>> BAL 3415.
>>
>> Fine copies of the first printing in either of the leather bindings have
>> increased in price enormously in the past two decades, fetching $6,000 
>> and
>> more. Fine copies in blue cloth run close behind, and fine copies in 
>> green
>> cloth fetch $3,500. In the second printing, those prices fall by half. In
>> very good condition, prices run about two-thirds of those for fine 
>> copies.
>> Shabby copies of this book can easily be found, and sell for a few 
>> hundred
>> dollars. What makes the hunt for a collectible copy of this book
> interesting
>> is the differences of opinion about the market value of the various 
>> states
>> of the sheets and frontispiece. Generally, the earlier states fetch
> slightly
>> higher prices, but most prudent collectors have studied BAL and are not
>> swayed by issue-mongers with a book to sell.
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>
>> From: "Harold Bush" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Sunday, September 06, 2009 8:37 AM
>> Subject: Re: which edition of AHF?
>>
>>
>> > just out of curiosity -- how much $$ IS it worth these days??
>> >
>> >
>> > regarding records -- AH yes! vinyl!  how quaint.  "That's All Right"--
>> > anyone besides me ever been to Sun Records in Memphis?  it's about the
>> > size
>> > of a small Dairy Queen!  what a place!  followed by pulled pork at
> Central
>> > Barbeque.
>> >
>> >
>> > -- 
>> > Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
>> > Professor of English
>> > Saint Louis University
>> > St. Louis, MO  63108
>> > 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h)
>> > <www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/ENG/faculty/hbush.html>
>>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
>
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.80/2349 - Release Date: 09/06/09
> 05:51:00