Thanks to Andy for the facts on railway circulation books! But I think
any objection to railway books by Clemens was more financial than
aesthetic.
He made no profit when his name was used without permission, or when
uncopyrighted jokes were included in _Ha! Ha! Ha!_. (_M.T. Business Man_,
195-96)
Clemens was willing to be a railway book writer. Two publishers "declined
to discuss the possibility of a twenty-five railroad book without seeing a
sample of the book", presumably "1002" which Clemens had contemplated
publishing "anonymously, in a 15 or 20 cent form right after Huck". (_Mark
Twain's Letters to his Publishers_, 174-175)
thanks, larry marshburne [log in to unmask]