Association Copy · London, 1897 · ownership inscription July 1899
Mark Twain’s The Stolen White Elephant — Lucy Carr Shaw’s 1899 Ownership
Lucy Carr Shaw Association Copy · Chatto & Windus, 1897
Catalogue details
Description
A late-Victorian London edition of Mark Twain’s story collection bearing the dated ownership inscription of Lucy Carr Shaw, the Dublin-born actress and singer who was the elder sister of George Bernard Shaw.
- Author
- Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens, 1835–1910)
- Format
- 8vo.; original dark blue cloth, gilt title to upper board and spine
- Country
- England, United Kingdom
- Title
- The Stolen White Elephant etc.
- Edition
- A New Edition
- Publication
- London: Chatto & Windus, 1897
- Collation
- [vi], 285, [1 blank], [32 advertisements] pp., as recorded in the earlier catalogue description
- Ownership
- “Lucy Carr Shaw / July 1899 / London” in ink on the front free endpaper
- Association
- Previously catalogued as the personal copy of Lucinda Frances “Lucy Carr” Shaw (1853–1920), elder sister of George Bernard Shaw
- Dimensions
- Measurements gladly provided on request
- Reference
- TBH-IRL-BOOK-TWAIN-SHAW-1897
- Date
- 1897 · ownership inscription July 1899
- Place
- London
- Category
- Irish Ephemera
- Medium
- Printed book · original cloth binding
- Condition
- Please consult the photographs for condition. Additional photographs are available on request.
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Historical context & sources
Context, attribution and documentary significance.
The Book
A Victorian Chatto & Windus edition of one of Mark Twain’s comic story collections.
This copy was published in London by Chatto & Windus in 1897 and is explicitly described on the title page as “A New Edition.” The collection itself had first appeared in book form in 1882. It takes its title from Twain’s celebrated comic tale of a royal white elephant whose disappearance becomes an increasingly absurd detective investigation.
The present volume is therefore not a first edition. Its importance lies instead in its surviving ownership inscription and the literary association created by that provenance.
Lucy Carr Shaw
“Lucy Carr Shaw · July 1899 · London.”
The front free endpaper is inscribed in ink “Lucy Carr Shaw / July 1899 / London.” The volume was previously catalogued as coming from the library of Lucinda Frances Shaw (1853–1920), generally known professionally as Lucy Carr Shaw, the elder sister of Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw.
The Dictionary of Irish Biography identifies Lucinda Frances as Shaw’s elder sister and as an actress and singer in musical comedy. Surviving theatrical research records a substantial stage career, including work with the D’Oyly Carte organisation, appearances in London and on Broadway, and retirement from the stage in 1898 because of ill health. She later worked as a writer and translator, including on Strindberg’s Miss Julie.
The July 1899 inscription consequently dates from a particularly interesting point in her life: shortly after the close of her professional stage career.
Association Copy
An American literary text with a direct Shaw-family ownership connection.
This is an association copy rather than an author-signed copy. Mark Twain did not inscribe the volume. Its significance comes from the dated ownership inscription of Lucy Carr Shaw and the book’s documented placement in her personal library.
That association creates an unusual transatlantic literary object: an 1897 London edition of an American author, owned in 1899 by a Dublin-born actress and member of the Shaw family. It is therefore catalogued by Ten Bells Auction House under Irish Ephemera.
Journal
Lucy Carr Shaw: From the Stage to the Page
A Journal essay places the July 1899 ownership inscription within Lucy Carr Shaw’s theatrical and literary life, while separating documented provenance from speculation. Read the Journal essay →
The ownership inscription and title page are the primary evidence for this record. The following external sources support the biographical and bibliographical context used in the catalogue description.
- Dictionary of Irish Biography — George Bernard ShawIdentifies Lucinda Frances Shaw (1853–1920) as George Bernard Shaw’s elder sister, actress and singer in musical comedy.
- Gilbert & Sullivan Archive — Lucy Carr ShawDetailed account of Lucy Carr Shaw’s theatrical career, Broadway appearance, retirement in 1898 and later writing and translation.
- British Library Archives & Manuscripts — Shaw family authority recordLists Lucinda Frances Shaw as an actress and sister of George Bernard Shaw within the Shaw-related archive catalogue.
- Mark Twain Project — The Writings of Mark TwainDocuments Twain’s preparation of The Stolen White Elephant as an 1882 collection of sketches.
- Open Library — The Stolen White Elephant, etc.Bibliographical record for the early Chatto & Windus edition, including the 285-page text and publisher’s advertisements.
- Irish History Online — Bernard Shaw’s Sister and Her FriendsBibliographical record for the dedicated study of Lucy Carr Shaw and her circle.
