...bound in genuine leather with accents of 22kt gold.
- 1998 Easton Press sales brochure

1998 sales brochure for the Easton Press Mark Twain Library courtesy of Michael Spector

Chapter 40
Easton Press Mark Twain Library (1998)

History Behind Easton Press

Easton Press was established in 1975 as a division of a company known as MBI, Incorporated, a company formerly known as Danbury Mint. Founded by Ralph Glendinning and Ted Stanley in 1969, Danbury Mint specialized in direct marketing of commemorative items that were designed to "hit the heartstrings of America in easy-to-arrange monthly installments" (Hoover online financial reports). In a series of publishing buyouts in the mid-1970s, MBI acquired the rights to books formerly published by George Macy (b. 1900 - d. 1956) under the Heritage Press and Heritage Club banners, which also included some of Macy's exclusive and initially expensive Limited Editions Club volumes. The Limited Editions Club volumes featured limitation numbers and autographs by the illustrators. Macy's Heritage Club editions were textually identical but had no limitation numbers, were not autographed by the illustrators and featured different bindings.

With a mailing list that has been estimated at 10 million names, MBI was well-established to launch a publishing business that featured formerly pricey limited editions. Easton Press issued a number of Mark Twain's works in various bindings. However, they have only issued one Mark Twain collection in a uniform edition. These books were marketed via a plan similar to the one implemented by John Alun Stevenson in the 1930s with the American Artists edition of Mark Twain's works as well as Greystone Definitive Edition in the mid-1960s.

Sales Techniques

Sold by direct marketing and subscription sales techniques featuring monthly payments, Easton Press aimed for consumers who desired books bound in leather and gold with all the trimmings--books that decorate a room. Customers reserved their sets ahead of publication and were allowed to pay for one book per month and return any volume within thirty days. Price per book was $45.50. A complete set, if all twelve volumes were accepted, would total $546.

1998 sales brochure for the Easton Press Mark Twain Library courtesy of Michael Spector

• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Edited with an introduction by Bernard DeVoto, illustrations by Thomas Hart Benton. Noted American artist Thomas Hart Benton was born in1889 in Missouri and died in that state in 1975. Benton had previously illustrated an edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for the Limited Editions Club in 1939. Benton's illustrated edition of Huckleberry Finn first appeared in 1942 under the Limited Editions Club imprint.
  
  
• Life on the Mississippi, introduction by Edward Wagenknecht, illustrations by Thomas Hart Benton. Noted American artist Thomas Hart Benton was born in1889 in Missouri and died in that state in 1975. Benton's illustrated edition of Life on the Mississippi first appeared in 1944 under the Heritage Press imprint.
  
  
• The Innocents Abroad, introduction by Edward Wagenknecht, illustrations by Fritz Kredel. Kredel was born in Germany in 1900 and died in New York in 1973. He had previously illustrated Mark Twain's Slovenly Peter for Harper and Brothers in 1935. The Innocents Abroad with Kredel's illustrations first appeared in the 1962 Limited Editions Club and Heritage Club editions published by George Macy.
  
  
• The Prince and the Pauper, introduction by Edward Wagenkneckt, illustrations by Clarke Hutton. Clarke Hutton was born in 1898 in London and died in 1984. He was an illustrator of English books as well as a teacher at Central School of Art in London. His illustrations for The Prince and the Pauper first appeared in the 1964 Limited Editions Club and Heritage Club editions published by George Macy.
  
  
• A Tramp Abroad, introduction by Edward Wagenknecht, illustrations by David Knight and Mark Twain. This edition with Knight's illustrations first appeared in the 1966 Limited Editions Club and Heritage Club editions published by George Macy.
  
  
  
• The Notorious Jumping Frog & Other Stories, selected and introduced by Edward Wagenknecht, illustrations by Joseph Low. Low was born in 1911 in Pennsylvania and died in Massachusetts in 2007. He taught art at Indiana University and then moved to New York City where he worked as an independent designer and artist. Low's illustrations for this volume first appeared in 1970 in George Macy's Limited Editions Club and Heritage Club editions. The contents of this volume differs from the 1867 first edition published by C. H. Webb. Contents of this edition are:
  • The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
  • Dick Baker's Cat
  • Baker's Blue-Jay Yarn
  • The Curious Republic of Gondour
  • The Five Boons of Life
  • Two Little Tales
  • The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg
  • An Encounter with an Interviewer
  • The Belated Russian Passport
  • The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut
  • Experience of the McWilliamses with Membranous Croup
  • A True Story
  • The Death Disk
  • The Story of the Bad Little Boy
  • The Story of the Good Little Boy
  • A Mediaeval Romance
  • The Stolen White Elephant
  • The $30,000 Bequest
  • A Dog's Tale
  • Was it heaven? or Hell?
  • Extracts from Adam's Diary
  • Eve's Diary.
    
    
• Roughing It, with an introduction by Edward Wagenknecht, uncredited illustrations. The Limited Editions Club and Heritage Press edition of Roughing It first appeared in 1972 with eleven color plates, several of which were double spreads, by artist Noel Sickles and numerous smaller black and white illustrations. Sickles was born in Ohio in 1910 and died in Arizona in 1982. He was a commercial and illustrator best know for his comic strip "Scorchy Smith." When Easton Press published this edition of Roughing It, Sickles's full page plates were dropped and no illustrator is credited for the remaining illustrations.
  
  
• Pudd'nhead Wilson, introduction by Edward Wagenknecht, illustrations by John Groth. John Groth was born in 1908 in Chicago and died in 1988 in New York. A former art director for Esquire magazine and war correspondent for the Chicago Sun newspaper, he had previously illustrated Mark Twain's The War Prayer for Harper & Row (1968). His illustrations for Pudd'nhead Wilson first appeared in the edition published for George Macy's Limited Editions Club and Heritage Club editions in 1974.
  
  
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Foreword and notes by John C Gerber, text established by Terry Firkins. The University of California Press licensed leatherbound reprint rights to this title to Easton Press on May 11, 1998, and the signee for Easton Press was Roy Pfeil, Publisher/Easton Press. The contract did not indicate the size of the initial printing. This title had originally appeared in the Mark Twain Library series in 1982 with original illustrations from the first edition by True Williams.
  
  
• Tom Sawyer Abroad/ Tom Sawyer, Detective, Foreword and notes by John C Gerber, text established by Terry Firkins. The University of California Press licensed leatherbound reprint rights to this title to Easton Press on May 11, 1998, and the signee for Easton Press was Roy Pfeil, Publisher/Easton Press. The contract did not indicate the size of the initial printing. This title had originally appeared in the Mark Twain Library series in 1982 with original illustrations from the first editions: Daniel Carter Beard for Tom Sawyer Abroad and A. B. Frost for Tom Sawyer, Detective.
  
  
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, edited by Bernard L Stein. The University of California Press licensed leatherbound reprint rights to this title to Easton Press on May 11, 1998, and the signee for Easton Press was Roy Pfeil, Publisher/Easton Press. The contract did not indicate the size of the initial printing. This title had originally appeared in the Mark Twain Library series in 1983 with original illustrations from the first edition by Daniel Carter Beard.
  
  
• The £1,000,000 Bank-Note & Other Stories, illustrations by Penny Havard. Penny Breidenbach Havard was born in 1938 in New York and later moved with her parents to Connecticut where she worked as a free lance artist specializing in commercial illustration and design. Havard had contributed to two previous Easton Press publications. This collection features Havard's ornamental illustratrations for the title page for each story. This 1998 collection features contents that differ from the Webster & Company 1893 first edition of the same title. Contents of this edition are:
  • The £1,000,000 Bank-Note
  • A Horse's Tale
  • Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven
  • The Esquimau Maiden's Romance
  • Is He living or Is He Dead?
  • A Double-Barreled Detective Story
  • Luck
  • A Ghost Story
  • Some Learned Fables for Good Old Boys and Girls
  • A Curious Experience
  • Hunting the Deceitful Turkey
  • A Fable
  • The Mysterious Stranger

• Hubbed Spine, bound in leather
• Moire endleaves with satin page marker
• Acccented in 22KT Gold with gilt page edges
• Smyth-sewn pages
• Acid-neutral paper
• Original sales price $45.50
  

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References

"George Macy Companies: Limited Editions Club & The Heritage Press." Accessed 12 June 2024.

Heyman, Randy. Personal correspondence 22 July 2013.

Majure, Bill R. "A Brief History of the Limited Editions Club." Accessed 12 June 2024.

"MBI, Incorporated Company Profile from Hoovers." Accessed 5 August 2013.

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