The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County — Complete Illustrated Edition

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County — Complete Illustrated Edition

The story that made Mark Twain famous: in English, then in French, then clawed back into English.

First printed in 1865, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was reprinted across America and made its young author a national name. Old Simon Wheeler, cornered by a polite visitor, tells in perfect deadpan the story of Jim Smiley, the man who would bet on anything, and of Dan'l Webster, the finest jumping frog in the county.

When a French magazine translated the story in 1872 to prove it wasn't really funny, Twain struck back. He printed the tale three ways: in English, in the critic's French, and in his own word-for-word translation back into English, "clawed back into a civilized language once more by patient, unremunerated toil."

This edition follows Twain's 1875 arrangement, complete and unabridged, with his preface, a note on the text and original paintings.

Details: Adult · 36 pages · Unabridged, with the French text and Twain's retranslation · 4 full-page paintings · e-book PDF and EPUB