A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court, Twain, Mark. Published by Rose Publishing Company, Toronto, Canada, 1890. First Canadian Edition. 8vo up to 9½” tall., 575 pp. with 221 black and white illustrations by Daniel Carter Beard. Olive green cloth boards with blue, black and gilt illustration front and spine, gilt titles front and spinel green patterned endpapers. Inked name to flyleaf, and light toning; otherwise, contents are in fine condition. Rubbing to board edges and along spine hinge, light scratch near upper edge, outside front edge dusting; light spine roll. Binding is tight and colours and gilt remain bright. A very nice copy of an early edition.
Daniel Carter Beard was an American illustrator, author, youth leader, Georgist and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which later merged with the Boy Scouts of America. With Mark Twain’s approval, Beard’s illustrations for A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court were a Georgist interpretation of the story. He was blacklisted by magazines and publishers because of his association with the controversial anti-church, anti-industrialist, anti-imperialist content of Twain’s work, and because some of his illustrations were seen as inflammatory. Twain however was pleased with Beard’s work, saying, “Dan Beard is the only man who can correctly illustrate my writings for he not only illustrates the text, but he also illustrates my thoughts.”
