Content is user-generated and unverified.

CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY

Harrison & Associates Rare Books
Member of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association
Established 1978


Certificate No.: 2024-1156
Date: July 15, 2024

ITEM DESCRIPTION

Title: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Author: Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
Publisher: Charles L. Webster & Company, New York
Publication Date: 1885
Edition: First American Edition, First Issue

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Format: Octavo (7¼ x 5 inches)
Pagination: [i-viii], 9-366, [367-368] pp.
Binding: Original blue cloth with gilt spine lettering and decorative stamping
Condition: Very Fine. Slight rubbing to spine ends, otherwise exceptionally clean with bright gilt. All pages present and complete. No previous owner markings.

POINTS OF IDENTIFICATION

This copy exhibits all the recognized first issue points:

  • Page 57: "Him and another man" (later corrected to "He and another man")
  • Page 161: Illustration captioned "Him and another man"
  • Page 283: "sick" rather than "seek" in line 23
  • Publisher's advertisements dated 1884 present at rear
  • Original blue cloth binding with documented publisher's variant

PROVENANCE

Previously owned by the Morrison family library, Philadelphia (bookplate present on front pastedown). Acquired from the Morrison estate sale, Freeman's Auctioneers, October 2023.

AUTHENTICATION

Based on thirty-five years of experience in American literature and extensive comparison with documented copies in major institutional collections, I hereby certify that this copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a genuine first American edition, first issue, published by Charles L. Webster & Company in 1885.

This certificate is issued in good faith based on accepted bibliographical standards and current scholarship. Reference: BAL 3415; Johnson, Merle Johnson's American First Editions, 4th ed., p. 524.

Guarantee: Should this attribution prove incorrect based on subsequent bibliographical evidence, this item may be returned within five years of purchase for full refund.


Authenticated by:

[Signature]

Robert Harrison
Certified Appraiser, American Society of Appraisers
Member, Antiquarian Booksellers' Association

Date: July 15, 2024


This certificate should accompany the book and remain with it for all future transactions.

Content is user-generated and unverified.
    Sample Certificate of Authenticity - Rare Book | Claude