Lately I’ve been re-reading the first two volumes of this projected three-volume series from the 1980s, and wondering again what ever happened to the third volume. As far as I can tell, it never appeared, but it seems that the process was already well under way when the other volumes appeared, judging from several references in the notes to a certain sketch as No. 202, or some other number higher than anything in the second volume. Back in those days I expected to hear at any time that the third volume was now available. Does anybody know what happened?

Similarly, the Mark Twain Library seemed to conk out quickly in the mid- to late ’80s. The volumes I have list Innocents Abroad with a projected publication date of 1985 or ’86, I think, and maybe others too, but they apparently suffered the same fate as Tales & Sketches Vol. 3. I’m guessing maybe funding dried up, or something along those lines, but I’ve never seen any explanation.

-- Bob G.