Books

London: George Routeledge and Sons, The Broadway, Ludgate, 1867. Hardcover. 16mo (6.5" x 4"), modern half morocco, gray paper over boards, marbled edges. viii, 9-187. CONDITION: Good, faint dampstain to upper edge of title, small brown stains to inmost sections of upper margins of some leaves. First English edition. Originally published in wrappers. Scarce. "An incident on which the jumping frog story is based actually occurred at or near Angel's Camp and was reported in a Sonora newspaper in 1853. Mark Twain heard the story from an old bartender named Ben Coon in Angel's Camp in early 1865. His brief notes indicate that the frog's owner was called Coleman and that the amount of money wagered was $50. Shortly after leaving Angel's Camp,. Mark Twain began writing his own version of the story, but it took him half a year and several false starts to find a satifactory frameowrk." REFERENCES: BAL 3586; Rasmusen, R. Kent. Mark Twain A to Z (New York, 1995), p. 266.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, also known as 'The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County' is an 1865 short story by Mark Twain. It was his first great success as a writer and brought him national attention. The story is set in a gold-mining camp in Calaveras County, California, and the plot revolves around a jumping frog contest. Twain's narrative follows the gambler Jim Smiley, who has a frog that can jump higher than any other frog. This humorous tale is also known for its colorful characters, including the narrator, who is drawn into the story by the loquacious storyteller, Simon Wheeler.