"The Mysterious Stranger" by Mark Twain, With illustrations by N.C. Wyeth, published by Harper & Brothers, New York, 1916. First Printing of the First Edition dated October, 1916, and Harper letter code 'K-Q' [Oct. 1916] on copyright page.

Hard boards, original black cloth with illustration on the front board [wear, especially the bottom side of the spine, shelf and corner wear, 2" cloth crease between spine and board; 7" x 9.1/2"; frontispiece with tissue guard [tissue guard is damaged]; 151 pages + 7 color plates on glossy paper including frontispiece [all 7 listed plates are present]; very good condition.

"The Mysterious Stranger" consists of the fragments of an unfinished novel. Mark Twain worked on it intermittently from 1897 through 1908. He wrote multiple versions of the story; each involves a supernatural character called "Satan" or "No. 44". All the versions remained unfinished (with the debatable exception of the last one, No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger).

The edition published in 1916 (in seven parts in Harper's Magazine, and separately as a book published by Harper) is composed mainly of a heavily edited Chronicle of Young Satan, with a slightly altered version of the ending from No. 44 tacked on.

Summary

In 1590, three boys, Theodor, Seppi, and Nikolaus, live relatively happy simple lives in a remote Austrian village called Eseldorf (German for "Assville" or "Donkeytown"). The story is narrated by Theodor, the village organist's son. Other local characters include Father Peter, his niece Marget, and the astrologer.

One day, a handsome teenage boy named Satan appears in the village. He explains that he is an angel and the nephew of the fallen angel whose name he shares. Young Satan performs several magical feats. He claims to be able to foresee the future and informs the group of unfortunate events that will soon befall those they care about. The boys do not believe Satan's claims until one of his predictions comes true. Satan proceeds to describe further tragedies that will befall their friends. The boys beg Satan to intercede. Satan agrees but operates under the technical definition of mercy. For instance, instead of a lingering death due to illness, Satan simply causes one of Theodor's friends to die immediately.

In the village and in other places around the world where Satan transports them magically, the boys witness religious fanaticism, witch trials, burnings, hangings, deaths and mass hysteria. Finally, Satan vanishes with a brief explanation: "[T]here is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream – a grotesque and foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought – a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities!"

Newell Convers Wyeth (1882-1945), known as N.C. Wyeth, was an American artist and illustrator. He was the star pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's greatest illustrators.

His first published work appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in 1903. In 1911 he painted a series of illustrations for an edition of the book, Treasure Island, by R.L. Stevenson. He also illustrated editions of The Yearling, The Whote Company, Robinson Crusoe, The Last of the Mohicans, Kidnapped (1937), and Robin Hood. During his lifetime, Wyeth created over 3,000 paintings and illustrated 112 books,25 of them for Scribner's, the work for which he is best known.

Wyeth was a realist painter just as the camera and photography began to compete with his craft.Sometimes seen as melodramatic, his illustrations were designed to be understood quickly. Wyeth who was both a painter and an illustrator, understood the difference, and said in 1908, "painting and illustration cannot be mixed–one cannot merge from one into the other."

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