Literary critics are drawn to Twain because his works herald the beginning of modern American literature. Scholars of American culture admire him as an incisive social critic. Biographers view him with fascination as one of the first American celebrities, forced to balance the dualities of a private life that was at sharp variance from his public persona. And yet, despite the distortion inherent in his public image, he remains a larger than life figure in the pantheon of American literary giants because he is widely embraced as a quintessential American icon, a symbol that embodies all the positive cultural attributes that Americans project on themselves. Twain knew the human heart, and human hearts respond.
Books record the pulse of human existence.
For collectors of Mark Twain first editions the thrill of the hunt is magnified by the fact that his first editions, with a few notable exceptions, were produced in relatively large numbers, making him one of the easier nineteenth authors to collect with a reasonable expectation of completing a collection. While some of his first editions can cost thousands of dollars, most cost hundreds, and even those that cost thousands in fine condition in the first states, can be found for hundreds when in later states and in less than perfect condition. Building a comprehensive collection of first editions is virtually impossible today for collectors of Whitman, Poe, Melville, and Hawthorne, some of whose works are extremely rare and expensive, while some others don't appear for sale at any price. Unlike most other major nineteenth century literary authors, Twain's works were generally issued in colorful pictorial bindings, or with lavish illustrations that were sometimes closely supervised by Twain himself. The availability, beauty, and variety of his first editions makes collecting Twain a rewarding pursuit.