The Prince and the Pauper (Volume 5) (Mark Twain Library) - Hardcover

Twain, Mark

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520050886 ISBN 13: 9780520050884

Publisher: University of California Press, 1983

Synopsis

"What am I writing? A historical tale of 300 years ago, simply for the love of it." Mark Twain's tale, in which a sixteenth-century English prince and the pauper boy that looks just like him are forced to changed places, has become a classic of American literature. Published in 1881, Mark Twain called the book "a tale for young people of all ages," and his thirteen-year-old daughter, Susy Clemens, called it "unquestionably the best book he has ever written."  Foreword and notes by Victor Fischer and Michael B. Frank, text established by Victor Fischer. Original illustrations by Frank T. Merrill, John Harley, and L.S. Ipsen.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Rich with surprise and hilarious adventure, The Prince And The Pauper is a delight satire of England's romantic past and a joyful boyhood romp filled with the same tongue-in-cheek irony that sparked the best of Mark Twain's tall tales. Two boys, one an urchin from London's filthy lanes, the other a prince born in a lavish palace, unwittingly trade identities. Thus a bedraggled "Prince of Poverty" discovers that his private dreams have all the come true -- while a pampered Prince of Wales finds himself tossed into a rough-and-tumble world of squalid beggars and villainous thieves. Originally written as a story for children, The Prince And The Pauper is a classic novel for adults as well -- through its stinging attack on the ageless human folly of attempting to measure true worth by outer appearances.

From the Back Cover:

This treasured historical satire, played out in two very different socioeconomic worlds of 16th-century England, centers around the lives of two boys born in London on the same day: Edward, Prince of Wales, and Tom Canty, a street beggar. During a chance encounter, the two realize they are identical and, as a lark, decide to exchange clothes and roles—a situation that briefly, but drastically, alters the lives of both youngsters.
The Prince, dressed in rags, wanders about the city's boisterous neighborhoods among the lower classes and endures a series of hardships; poor Tom, now living with the royals, is constantly filled with the dread of being discovered for who and what he really is.
Brimming with gentle humor and discerning social scrutiny, this timeless tale of transposed identities remains one of Twain's most popular and best-loved novels.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 1983
• ISBN 10: 0520050886
• ISBN 13: 9780520050884
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 342
• Editor: Fischer Victor
• Illustrator: Merrill Frank T., Harley John J., Ipsen L. S.