"Life on the Mississippi" by Mark Twain. Elaborately illustrated throughout with over 300 illustrations, published by James R. Osgood & Co., 1883, First Edition Second State. Tailpiece of Twain in flames on p.441 not present and with caption on p.443 reading "The St. Charles Hotel." (BAL 3411). "Mark Twain in Flames" was removed during the first printing at the request of Mrs. Clemens who considered it morbid. One of Twain's best books, this autobiographical account of life on and around America's great river was considered by Twain to be his masterpiece. [Reference: Merle Johnson, a Bibliography of the Work of Mark Twain, 1910, P. 57.]

This book is the first submitted to a publisher as a typewritten manuscript [ref.: Darryl Rehr, "The First Typewriter"]. Twain did not, however, use the typewriter himself. His secretary, Isabel V. Lyon, typed from Twain's manuscript.

Hard boards, publisher's original brown cloth with gold and black decorations and gilt pictorial vignettes on the front board and spine [spine ends and corner wear]; 6" x 9"; damaged endpapers; 624 pages, page# 271 has a missing piece at the bottom edge impacting a few words on two bottom lines [see photos]; c. 30 pages in the middle of the book have repaired creases; a little soiling, good condition.

"Life on the Mississippi" (1883) is a memoir by Mark Twain of his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War. It is also a travel book, recounting his trip up the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Saint Paul many years after the war.

The book begins with a brief history of the river as reported by Europeans and Americans, beginning with the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1542. It continues with anecdotes of Twain's training as a steamboat pilot, as the 'cub' (apprentice) of an experienced pilot, Horace E. Bixby. He describes, with great affection, the science of navigating the ever-changing Mississippi River in a section that was first published in 1876, entitled "Old Times on the Mississippi". Although Twain was actually 21 when he began his training, he uses artistic license to make himself seem somewhat younger, referring to himself as a "fledgling" and a "boy" who "ran away from home" to seek his fortune on the river, and playing up his own callowness and naivete.

In the second half, Twain narrates his trip many years later on a steamboat from St. Louis to New Orleans, shortly followed by a steamboat journey from New Orleans to St Paul (with a stop at his boyhood home town of Hannibal, MO). He describes the competition from railroads, and the new, large cities, and adds his observations on greed, gullibility, tragedy, and bad architecture. He also tells some stories that are most likely tall tales.

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