Mark Twain [Samuel L. Clemens] — A Double Barrelled Detective Story

New York; London, Harper & Brothers, 1902 . First edition. Cloth. The smart first edition of this anti-detective satire in which Twain transports the notorious detective, Sherlock Holmes, to a California mining camp, illustrated with seven plates by Lucius Hitchcock. In the publisher's original red cloth binding.  First edition, published April, 1902.   Illustrated by Lucius Hitchcock with seven sepia toned plates with green borders, including the frontispiece. The plate facing page 158 is fully detached, but present, loosely inserted. Collated, complete.  A short satirical novel in which Sherlock Holmes is transplanted from Baker Street to the American West. The plot turns on revenge, murder in a California mining camp, and a solution reached not by Holmes"s celebrated "scientific" deduction, but through another character's strange and uncanny gift. Twain uses the story to test the limits of logic itself, and in a further Twain himself appears within the narrative, answering supposed reader letters and teasing his own literary reputation.  In the publisher's original red cloth binding. Externally, smart. Slight rubbing and bumping to extremities, resulting in very minor fraying to cloth. One or two minor spots of damp staining to spine and rear board. Spine slightly faded. Blind-stamped Macy & Co. bookseller"s mark to the title and copyright leaf. Very slight shelf lean. Small 1 inch closed tear to gutter of frontispiece. Internally, firmly bound. Hinges slightly strained in places, but firm. Frontispiece facing page 158 fully detached, but present, loosely inserted. One or two minor handling marks. Previous owner's light red pencil scribbles to fore edge of p.56 with small drawing to head of page. Very Good . Ill.: Lucius Hitchcock. Very Good .