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Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From:
Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 14 Dec 2014 08:39:40 -0600
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According to the Amazon page that I can see, hard copies are still being
sold.  And they are still available in many bookstores throughout the
country.  It appears the Amazon Kindle edition has been delayed until Dec.
23, according to the Amazon projected delivery dates. We can only guess at
the reason behind the delay.

It is my personal opinion that the book would require a complete rewrite
and overhaul to address the many errors that have been identified which
include many that were not mentioned in Kevin Mac Donnell's review or
addendum. It is distressing to scholars to see poison in the
informational stream that may take years to overcome when these books are
purchased by libraries or the casual reader.

Another disappointing fact is that perhaps the most important item
pictured in the book of interest to Twain scholars remains lost today.
It is Clemens's letter to the Copyright Office addressed to Ainsworth Rand
Spofford dated May 7, 1874 (along with the cover of the pamphlet for MARK
TWAIN'S SKETCHES). The editors at the Mark Twain Project reported that the
item could not be located in 2001 (see the online annotations for that
letter or p. 759 of LETTERS, vol. 6).  Recent inquiries to the Library of
Congress shortly after the release of this book indicate the item still
cannot be found.  A much clearer photograph of the Clemens letter and
pamphlet was published in 1994 in THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: AMERICA'S
MEMORY, by Carol Highsmith and Ted Landphair (p. 68) and this photograph is
the one reproduced in Katz's book.

Barb

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