On Mon, 8 Jul 1996 [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Has Clemens's short story "The Black Prince's Cat", written in 1896 yet
> appeared in any collection of his short stories or essays?  Or any
> critical analysis of it?
>
> Barb
>

That's an interesting question. This piece survives in MTP both in a
holograph manuscript (on which Paine has written "probably 1896") and in
at least two typescripts, one with Clemens's holograph changes, both with
the notation at the top, "London, 1899 or 1900." The assumption to date
has been that this manuscript was left unpublished by Clemens, but the
very existence of a typescript suggests that he was interested in
publishing it, and may have tried to do so, possibly in McClure's (there
is a penciled "Mc" at the top of the autographed typescript). On a quick
look, the manuscript seems to have been rescued from a longer work or
chapter, very possibly Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. Its
pagination begins with number 14, and the first sentence has been
fashioned by adding a penciled phrase to begin the sentence (the rest is
in ink).

So if you've found it published in 1896, that in itself is a great stride
forward. If not, then it remains at least in theory unpublished and of
course uncollected. I'm not aware of any critical comment on it.

Bob Hirst