Elbow-Room, A Novel Without A Plot

London: Ward, Lock and Tyler, 1876. First edition. Leather. Good. 7" by 5". Arthur B Frost . A first edition of the humorous novel from the American Charles Heber Clark, written under the pseudonym Max Adeler. Clark was born in 1841 in Berlin, Maryland, to an abolitionist clergyman who was quickly unwelcome in the Southern States. In the civil war Clark enlisted in the Union army and served for two years until the conclusion of the conflict. He then became a journalist and then editor, becoming independently wealthy through investments. He wrote all of his humorous books under a pseudonym, and in fact disliked that his fame was based upon them. He also had a dispute with mark Twain, whom he accused of plagiarising his 1880 novelette 'Fortunate Island'. This copy contains a contemporary hand drawn sketch to the front blank. The edition is illustrated by Arthur B. Frost. In half morocco with marbled boards. Externally smart with light shelf wear. Internally, with a contemporary sketch in pencil to a front blank. With a contemporary signature in pencil to the title page. A little foxed, particularly to the first and last few pages as usual. Firmly bound. Good