A Dog's Tale.

Twain, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens]

Published by Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York, 1904

About this Item

First edition of Twainâ s â powerful indictment of cruelty to animals." Octavo, original pictorial cloth, illustrated with four color plates by W.T. Smedley including tissue-guarded frontispiece. BAL 3483. Near fine in near fine dust jacket. Exceptionally rare in the original jacket. "My father was a St. Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian." So begins Mark Twain's short story, both sentimental and polemical, about animal welfare. "First published in the Christmas issue of Harper's Monthly Magazine (December 1903), A Dog's Taleâ ¦ was written largely to please daughter Jean, who had been outspoken in support of anti-vivisectionist causesâ ¦ Written in the tradition of Aesop's fables, A Dog's Taleâ ¦ remains a powerful indictment of cruelty to animals," as well as a scathing attack on such targets as misleading language, the institution of slavery and science exercised without compassion (LeMaster & Wilson, 223-24). It is also "a tribute to Mark Twain's mother, whoâ "like the narrator's motherâ "reputedly sent Mark Twain into the world with an oath to behave properly" (Rasmussen, 113-14). It was "apparently printed from the plates of Harper's Magazine" (BAL 3479), where it was first published. Harper & Brothers published the first (separate) American edition in September of that year (BAL 3483).

Seller Inventory # 150701

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Dog's Tale.
• Publisher: Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York
• Publication Date: 1904
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Children's Books