Plum Park Press
In 1905, shortly after his wife Olivia died, Mark Twain published EVE'S DIARY, perhaps as a tribute to his late wife. The story appeared first in Harper's Bazaar, then as a book a year later. The story purports to be the diary of the Biblical Eve, written in the Garden of Eden, and allegedly "translated" by Twain from the original manuscript.
The book took a very light tone, with each day's events recorded on a right-hand page, with a corresponding illustration by Lester Ralph on the facing page. The Plum Park Press miniature edition follows the same format, with all the text and illustrations from the original edition, laid out in the same way.
At the time of the original publication the illustrations were considered somewhat controversial, since Eve and Adam are portrayed throughout "in summer costume", as one critic put it; the book was even banned in some places. Today the illustrations are considered delightful, and the book is probably not banned anywhere.
Since the book is supposedly a diary, the text is set in a script typeface, and the book is bound in dark red crushed faux leather; the endpapers are a color-coordinated marble; and a dark red ribbon bookmark is included. The book has overall dimensions of 74 x 58 x 11 mm (2-15/16 x 2-1/4 x 7/16 inches). The edition consists of 20 copies, priced $45 each plus $5 for shipping and handling.
