Several hours after I sent my posting yesterday I got an email from the
previous owner of the copy of Ludlow's HASHEESH EATER supposedly from
Twain's library, saying that it was in a collection of drug-related books
sold to a person in Europe, and was in storage and unlikely to be available
for examination for several years. The last time enquiries were made about
this book, it was also described as in storage and unavailable for
inspection.

From memory the book was described as being in unusually nice condition,
with no markings whatsoever, other than a 1951 sale label (for Clara's
Hollywood sale). This is not very promising. Every book I own or have
examined from the 1951 sale has Clara's shelfmarks on the front or back end
papers (I have a copy of her original shelfmark codes that she used on all
of the books she owned when she lived in Detroit and organized them by
subjects).  Bookplates by themselves are scant evidence of anything, and
when a book purporting to be from the 1951 sale shows up without Clara's
ubiquitous shelfmarks it is a strong reason for doubts. Sometimes they have
been erased, but seldom without leaving some trace. I have also noticed a
curious pattern that most of the books included on the crude list that was
prepared for the 1951 sale do not have the sale label, while many books that
do have the sale label are not on that list, and tend not to have any
markings (by Clara or any other Clemens). The 1951 sale list was said not to
be complete, so absence from the 1951 list is not by itself damning. And
shelfmarks aside, while unsigned and unannotated books were included on the
list, it seems likely that any books left off the list would most likely
have been unsigned or unannotated or had markings easily overlooked. But
when combined with the presence of the sale label (a nice little two-color
typeset label) and the absence of any of Clara's shelfmarks, it's cause for
doubt. Another odd things about this book is the condition. The books that
Twain owned out west tend to show some wear, often quite heavy, but he could
have acquired a copy much later. However, whether it was acquired out west
and shows no wear, or was acquired much later but shows no markings, it
looks odd either way.  I'm making further enquiries about this copy, but
there is another problem: there is a high probability that it has a
provenance that would tie it to one or both of two people who are known to
have sold (in the 1970s) material of dubious origins as coming from the 1951
sale. The 1951 sale was conducted by a furniture auctioneer and there has
always been a suspicion that the pretty little label was something added
later to some books by one of the major buyers at the sale (Maxwell Hunley
or Jake Zeitlin). It has never been asserted that either of these respected
booksellers would have put the label into books not originating from that
sale, but that such legitimate labels could have easily migrated over the
years into more interesting books, or that spare labels could have fallen
into eager hands (both of which have certainly happened with the 1911 sale
labels). I'll be rereading some contemporary accounts of the sale to see if
any mention of the label is made. Despite all of this (and you may know more
about it than you ever wished!) I'm not ready to reject the book without an
examination, but I'll remain very doubtful until things can be hashed out.

Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX