Fine Prints from the Mark Twain Collection

In the early 1930s, the Buffalo Public Library (a predecessor of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library,) began to build a unique collection of special English and foreign language editions of the novel. Through the years, this collection has continued to grow. These remarkable items, currently numbering more than five hundred, fill the bookcases lining the walls of the Mark Twain Room at the Central Library.

Now featured in a new exhibition is a wide selection of Twain’s works acquired by the library during the past 80 years.  The newest addition, and the centerpiece of this exhibit, is the 2008 Pie Tree Press The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, illustrated by renowned Canadian book artist Jim Rimmer.  Also on display are several fine press publications of Twain’s writings, including multiple printings of his short and controversial Elizabethan skit, 1601.