[CLEMENS, SAMUEL LANGHORNE]. LECKY, WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE. History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne. New York: Appleton 1874. 2 vols., 8vo, original green cloth, both vols. worn, vol. 1 nearly disbound, vol. 2 very shaken with inner hinges broken (but both could be recased preserving the original bindings). First American Edition? (first published London 1869), FROM MARK TWAIN'S LIBRARY WITH VERY EXTENSIVE ANNOTATIONS BY HIM: SOME 78 SEPARATE ANNOTATIONS TOTALLING APPROXIMATELY 929 WORDS (in pencil and different shades of ink) on 68 pages, with a profusion of marginal markings and underlinings (mostly in pencil) on 42 of these annotated pages plus another 191 pages (the book has 800 pages of text), with some page corners turned down by him, and with his ownership signature on the front endpaper of each volume ("SL. Clemens 1906" in vol. 1; "SL. Clemens" in vol. 2). Also signed in pencil by Theodore W. Crane (Clemens' brother-in-law)in each volume ("T.W. Crane 1874 New York" on front endpaper of vol. 1; "T.W. Crane 1877" on title-page of vol. 2).The most extensively annotated -- and the most important in terms of his intellectual development -- of any book from Twain's library to appear on the market in quite some time (including the large number of his annotated books in the Estelle Doheny collection). Gribben, pp. 400-403 (devoting three pages to a detailed discussion of this copy of Lecky, which was only briefly available for his inspection): "...Clemens' notebooks contain only a single explicit reference to European Morals, possibly because Clemens used the margins of Lecky's book as a repository of his own reflections...These mentions [Clemens also alluded to the Irish historian in a letter] hardly suggest the true significance of Lecky in Clemens' intellectual development. No serious student of Mark Twain's works should neglect reading at least a few chapters of Lecky's historical survey..." Gribben lists numerous critical studies done on the influence of Lecky on Clemens' writings. This influence is most pronounced in What Is Man? (posthumously published in 1917) and later stories and essays; strong impact of Lecky's thought on Twain is also detected in such books as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Regarding Clemens' annotations in these two volumes, Gribben writes (p. 401): "My examination...revealed that Clemens re-read them numerous times; his profuse marginalia record different readings in various shades of brown, black, and blue ink -- together with many markings and notes in pencil. Clemens' writing instruments sometimes alternate from page to page."Among the Clemens annotations: "Christ descended into Purgatory, & the only reason why he ever got out alive was, that the extradition-tax had not then been instituted. He hadn't a penny of his own, he hadn't a friend who had a penny. If he gets in there again in similar circumstances, he will stay there. Purgatory is for revenue only" (vol. 1, p. 223); "In the beginning, our Republic's god was Liberty; now it is Money. In the beginning our government possessed dignity & honor -- it is destitute of both, now" (vol. 1, p. 235); "Christianity -- both North & South -- was totally dumb, as regards our slavery. It has always been a coward. It has always followed reform-processions, it has never headed one" (vol. 1, p. 325); "It [Christianity] is an odious religion. Still I do not think its priests ought to be burned, but only the missionaries" (vol. 1, p. 447); "It seems to be pretty clearly proven that Christianity was invented in hell" (vol. 1, p. 450); "It [this work by Lecky] is so noble a book, & so beautiful a book, that I don't want it to have even trivial faults in it" (vol. 2, p. 39); "Christianity, then, did not raise up the Slave, but degraded all conditions of men to the Slave's level" (vol. 2, p. 72); "How will all the saints find accomodations in Heaven? Will there be room in the lavatory for all of them?" (vol. 2, p. 119); "Plainly God never knew anything about human beings; or he would not have trusted the idiots with so dangerous a thing as a Bible" (vol. 2, p. 134); "Let us hope that all these holy people are in hell (vol. 2, p. 136); "The bribing of heaven still goes on in America in the form of robberies of children to leave money to missions" (vols. 2, p. 142); "All the evidence seems to indicate that the Church was engendered down below" (vol. 2, p. 144); "Has there ever been another religion that was so unspeakably brutal as this one? [Christianity]" (vol. 2, p. 240). On the rear free endpaper of vol. 2 Clemens sums up his reading (or one of his readings) of Lecky: "If I have understood this book aright, it proves two things beyond a shadow or question: 1. that Christianity is the very invention of hell itself; 2. & that Christianity is the most precious & elevating & ennobling boon ever vouch-safed to the world."

[CLEMENS, SAMUEL LANGHORNE]. LECKY, WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE. History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne. New York: Appleton 1874. 2 vols., 8vo, original green cloth, both vols. worn, vol. 1 nearly disbound, vol. 2 very shaken with inner hinges broken (but both could be recased preserving the original bindings). First American Edition? (first published London 1869), FROM MARK TWAIN'S LIBRARY WITH VERY EXTENSIVE ANNOTATIONS BY HIM: SOME 78 SEPARATE ANNOTATIONS TOTALLING APPROXIMATELY 929 WORDS (in pencil and different shades of ink) on 68 pages, with a profusion of marginal markings and underlinings (mostly in pencil) on 42 of these annotated pages plus another 191 pages (the book has 800 pages of text), with some page corners turned down by him, and with his ownership signature on the front endpaper of each volume ("SL. Clemens 1906" in vol. 1; "SL. Clemens" in vol. 2). Also signed in pencil by Theodore W. Crane (Clemens' brother-in-law)in each volume ("T.W. Crane 1874 New York" on front endpaper of vol. 1; "T.W. Crane 1877" on title-page of vol. 2). The most extensively annotated -- and the most important in terms of his intellectual development -- of any book from Twain's library to appear on the market in quite some time (including the large number of his annotated books in the Estelle Doheny collection). Gribben, pp. 400-403 (devoting three pages to a detailed discussion of this copy of Lecky, which was only briefly available for his inspection): "...Clemens' notebooks contain only a single explicit reference to European Morals, possibly because Clemens used the margins of Lecky's book as a repository of his own reflections...These mentions [Clemens also alluded to the Irish historian in a letter] hardly suggest the true significance of Lecky in Clemens' intellectual development. No serious student of Mark Twain's works should neglect reading at least a few chapters of Lecky's historical survey..." Gribben lists numerous critical studies done on the influence of Lecky on Clemens' writings. This influence is most pronounced in What Is Man? (posthumously published in 1917) and later stories and essays; strong impact of Lecky's thought on Twain is also detected in such books as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Regarding Clemens' annotations in these two volumes, Gribben writes (p. 401): "My examination...revealed that Clemens re-read them numerous times; his profuse marginalia record different readings in various shades of brown, black, and blue ink -- together with many markings and notes in pencil. Clemens' writing instruments sometimes alternate from page to page." Among the Clemens annotations: "Christ descended into Purgatory, & the only reason why he ever got out alive was, that the extradition-tax had not then been instituted. He hadn't a penny of his own, he hadn't a friend who had a penny. If he gets in there again in similar circumstances, he will stay there. Purgatory is for revenue only" (vol. 1, p. 223); "In the beginning, our Republic's god was Liberty; now it is Money. In the beginning our government possessed dignity & honor -- it is destitute of both, now" (vol. 1, p. 235); "Christianity -- both North & South -- was totally dumb, as regards our slavery. It has always been a coward. It has always followed reform-processions, it has never headed one" (vol. 1, p. 325); "It [Christianity] is an odious religion. Still I do not think its priests ought to be burned, but only the missionaries" (vol. 1, p. 447); "It seems to be pretty clearly proven that Christianity was invented in hell" (vol. 1, p. 450); "It [this work by Lecky] is so noble a book, & so beautiful a book, that I don't want it to have even trivial faults in it" (vol. 2, p. 39); "Christianity, then, did not raise up the Slave, but degraded all conditions of men to the Slave's level" (vol. 2, p. 72); "How will all the saints find accomodations in Heaven? Will there be room in the lavatory for all of them?" (vol. 2, p. 119); "Plainly God never knew anything about human beings; or he would not have trusted the idiots with so dangerous a thing as a Bible" (vol. 2, p. 134); "Let us hope that all these holy people are in hell (vol. 2, p. 136); "The bribing of heaven still goes on in America in the form of robberies of children to leave money to missions" (vols. 2, p. 142); "All the evidence seems to indicate that the Church was engendered down below" (vol. 2, p. 144); "Has there ever been another religion that was so unspeakably brutal as this one? [Christianity]" (vol. 2, p. 240). On the rear free endpaper of vol. 2 Clemens sums up his reading (or one of his readings) of Lecky: "If I have understood this book aright, it proves two things beyond a shadow or question: 1. that Christianity is the very invention of hell itself; 2. & that Christianity is the most precious & elevating & ennobling boon ever vouch-safed to the world."

Details

[CLEMENS, SAMUEL LANGHORNE]. LECKY, WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE. History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne. New York: Appleton 1874. 2 vols., 8vo, original green cloth, both vols. worn, vol. 1 nearly disbound, vol. 2 very shaken with inner hinges broken (but both could be recased preserving the original bindings). First American Edition? (first published London 1869), FROM MARK TWAIN'S LIBRARY WITH VERY EXTENSIVE ANNOTATIONS BY HIM: SOME 78 SEPARATE ANNOTATIONS TOTALLING APPROXIMATELY 929 WORDS (in pencil and different shades of ink) on 68 pages, with a profusion of marginal markings and underlinings (mostly in pencil) on 42 of these annotated pages plus another 191 pages (the book has 800 pages of text), with some page corners turned down by him, and with his ownership signature on the front endpaper of each volume ("SL. Clemens 1906" in vol. 1; "SL. Clemens" in vol. 2). Also signed in pencil by Theodore W. Crane (Clemens' brother-in-law)in each volume ("T.W. Crane 1874 New York" on front endpaper of vol. 1; "T.W. Crane 1877" on title-page of vol. 2).

The most extensively annotated -- and the most important in terms of his intellectual development -- of any book from Twain's library to appear on the market in quite some time (including the large number of his annotated books in the Estelle Doheny collection). Gribben, pp. 400-403 (devoting three pages to a detailed discussion of this copy of Lecky, which was only briefly available for his inspection): "...Clemens' notebooks contain only a single explicit reference to European Morals, possibly because Clemens used the margins of Lecky's book as a repository of his own reflections...These mentions [Clemens also alluded to the Irish historian in a letter] hardly suggest the true significance of Lecky in Clemens' intellectual development. No serious student of Mark Twain's works should neglect reading at least a few chapters of Lecky's historical survey..." Gribben lists numerous critical studies done on the influence of Lecky on Clemens' writings. This influence is most pronounced in What Is Man? (posthumously published in 1917) and later stories and essays; strong impact of Lecky's thought on Twain is also detected in such books as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Regarding Clemens' annotations in these two volumes, Gribben writes (p. 401): "My examination...revealed that Clemens re-read them numerous times; his profuse marginalia record different readings in various shades of brown, black, and blue ink -- together with many markings and notes in pencil. Clemens' writing instruments sometimes alternate from page to page."

Among the Clemens annotations: "Christ descended into Purgatory, & the only reason why he ever got out alive was, that the extradition-tax had not then been instituted. He hadn't a penny of his own, he hadn't a friend who had a penny. If he gets in there again in similar circumstances, he will stay there. Purgatory is for revenue only" (vol. 1, p. 223); "In the beginning, our Republic's god was Liberty; now it is Money. In the beginning our government possessed dignity & honor -- it is destitute of both, now" (vol. 1, p. 235); "Christianity -- both North & South -- was totally dumb, as regards our slavery. It has always been a coward. It has always followed reform-processions, it has never headed one" (vol. 1, p. 325); "It [Christianity] is an odious religion. Still I do not think its priests ought to be burned, but only the missionaries" (vol. 1, p. 447); "It seems to be pretty clearly proven that Christianity was invented in hell" (vol. 1, p. 450); "It [this work by Lecky] is so noble a book, & so beautiful a book, that I don't want it to have even trivial faults in it" (vol. 2, p. 39); "Christianity, then, did not raise up the Slave, but degraded all conditions of men to the Slave's level" (vol. 2, p. 72); "How will all the saints find accomodations in Heaven? Will there be room in the lavatory for all of them?" (vol. 2, p. 119); "Plainly God never knew anything about human beings; or he would not have trusted the idiots with so dangerous a thing as a Bible" (vol. 2, p. 134); "Let us hope that all these holy people are in hell (vol. 2, p. 136); "The bribing of heaven still goes on in America in the form of robberies of children to leave money to missions" (vols. 2, p. 142); "All the evidence seems to indicate that the Church was engendered down below" (vol. 2, p. 144); "Has there ever been another religion that was so unspeakably brutal as this one? [Christianity]" (vol. 2, p. 240). On the rear free endpaper of vol. 2 Clemens sums up his reading (or one of his readings) of Lecky: "If I have understood this book aright, it proves two things beyond a shadow or question: 1. that Christianity is the very invention of hell itself; 2. & that Christianity is the most precious & elevating & ennobling boon ever vouch-safed to the world."