Well, you caught me in a good mood, the weather clear, my hopes bright, 
birds chirping nearby, and feeling more charitable than I've felt in 
months. So, you might have to factor this in when I grade Mr. Neider on 
a curve, but I'd give him an F.

That's his grade as an editor. As for popularizing Twain, he seemed 
quite good at PR, either promoting himself or Twain.

Kevin
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Mac Donnell Rare Books
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Austin TX 78730
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www.macdonnellrarebooks.com


------ Original Message ------
From: "Dave Davis" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 2/14/2024 10:04:40 AM
Subject: Charles Neider, editorial reputation?

>https://www.edseditions.com/pages/books/192304/mark-twain/the-adventures-of-colonel-sellers-edited-with-an-introduction-notes-by-charles-neider
>
>I'm reading in this version, while I wait for my Library of American volume
>to come in the mail.
>In it, Neider took the liberty of excising Warner's chapters, leaving
>SLC's, and explained why he thought that was a good idea. Apparently
>Doubleday (the publishers) thought so as well. I guess there was market
>demand for 'new' Twain works in the American book market at the time.
>
>What is anyone's view of Neider's editorial work on MT, nowadays? He got
>out several volumes of Twain material -- (see list below) --the stuff that
>was on the shelves when I first wandered into my Jr. High School library in
>the late 60's. I read and enjoyed his edition of the Autobiography, which
>included some previously unpublished chapters and excellent period
>photographs, including the "rocking chair" series which SLC annotated.
>
>Like Holbrook, Neider did a lot of this Twain-related work during the last
>decade of  Clara Clemens's life and tenure of the Estate.
>
>From Wikipedia--
>
>
>"Neider edited a major edition of the Autobiography of Mark Twain,
>published in 1959. In this, he expressed regret that Twain's daughter Clara
>Clemens would not permit him to include Samuel Clemens' dictations from
>June 1906 (the 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, and 25th).[6]
>
>"Other Mark Twain Publications he edited include:
>
>
>    - The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain (1957)
>    - The Autobiography of Mark Twain (1959)
>    - The Complete Humorous Sketches and Tales of Mark Twain (1961)
>    - Mark Twain: Life As I Find It (1961)
>    - The Travels of Mark Twain (1961)
>    - Complete Essays of Mark Twain (1963)
>    - The Adventures of Colonel Sellers (1965)
>    - The Complete Travel Books of Mark Twain (1966)
>    - Mark Twain (1967)
>    - The Comic Mark Twain Reader (1977)
>    - The Selected Letters of Mark Twain (1972)
>    - A Tramp Abroad (1977)
>    - Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims and Other Salutary Platform Opinions
>    (1984)
>    - Papa: An Intimate Biography of Mark Twain by Susy Clemens (1985)
>    - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1985)
>    - Mark Twain at His Best: A Comprehensive Sampler (1986)
>    - The Outrageous Mark Twain (1987)."
>
>(The ones in that listing that were authored entirely by Neider, I don't
>know anything about.)
>
>Thoughts?  /DDD