Hi Bob,

Thank you for your wonderful offer!

May I have a copy of "Brief Biography of the Government," please?

Howard Harrelson

On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 1:18 PM, Robert Hirst <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Sharon McCoy is correct, "A Difficult Conundrum" was the original title
> of "Flies and Russians," the manuscript for which is in the Mark Twain
> Papers. John Tuckey, Ken Sanderson, Bernard L. Stein, and Fred Anderson
> published it in *Mark Twain's Fables of Man* (UC Press, 1972), pp.
> 420-24. The canceled title is reported on pp. 728-29.
>
> "Brief Biography of the Government" is a manuscript in the Berg
> Collection, unpublished except in *Microfilm Edition of Mark Twain's
> Literary Manuscripts Available in the Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft
> Library, University of California, Berkeley* (2001), roll number 40. The
> manuscript shows that Clemens intended it as a letter to the editor of
> *Harper's Weekly* and that he signed it "Constant Reader." I can make a
> transcription of it and send same to anyone who wants it.
>
> Bob Hirst
>