You may have misunderstood my description. I think the missing story 
will indeed be found in the 1854 Francis edition. The gap in the 
pagination is pretty clear evidence that Francis removed a story for 
which he originally set the type, but he didn't bother to repaginate 
rest of the volume. He also removed the story from his contents page 
without changing the pagination. That was a lazy, perhaps hasty way of 
deleting text from his setting.

Francis's 1854 edition included notes from Lane's edition (3 vols), but 
that does not mean he copied Lane's text. However, he did reset the type 
for his 1854 edition (in 2 vols), and the printing in the Langdon family 
library, printed between 1860 and 1870, was from that same setting with 
a story (or stories) removed. Francis described his 1854 edition as a 
revised and corrected version of Lane's edition, so it's unclear whether 
he included all of the stories and notes from Lane's text, but whatever 
he did include, he certainly removed one or more stories from his 1854 
printing plates when he reprinted the book from those plates between 
1860 and 1870.

Since we don't know whether he copied Lane's edition in its entirety for 
his 1854 edition, the only way to know which story (or stories) Francis 
removed from his edition would be to compare a copy of his 1854 printing 
to this reprint.

Sadly, no copies of the 1854 Francis edition can be found at googlebooks 
or the Hathi Trust, and OCLC only records one copy of the 1854 edition 
at Arkansas State University.

Kevin
@
Mac Donnell Rare Books
9307 Glenlake Drive
Austin TX 78730
512-345-4139
Member: ABAA, ILAB, BSA

You can browse our books at:
www.macdonnellrarebooks.com


------ Original Message ------
From: "Scott Holmes" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 8/9/2020 3:40:08 PM
Subject: Re: Arabian Nights

>The missing story is not likely to be found in any previous editions from the Francis press.  They, as noted in your attachment, used the Edward Lane translation - considered to be "bowdlerized".  The missing story, and I haven't determined which one as yet, is likely to be of a particularly sexual nature. Thank you for the rapid reply to my query.
>
>On 8/9/20 1:02 PM, Mac Donnell Rare Books wrote:
>>I've attached my catalogue entry for the copy I own, which Twain read in the Langdon family library. There might be other copies in the Langdon family library books preserved at Elmira, but I hope this helps answer your question.
>>
>>Kevin
>>@
>>Mac Donnell Rare Books
>>9307 Glenlake Drive
>>Austin TX 78730
>>512-345-4139
>>Member: ABAA, ILAB, BSA
>>
>>You can browse our books at:
>>http://www.macdonnellrarebooks.com
>>
>>
>>------ Original Message ------
>>From: "Scott Holmes" <[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Sent: 8/9/2020 2:14:28 PM
>>Subject: Arabian Nights
>>
>>>I recall that Twain was interested in the The Arabian Nights and I was wondering is someone familiar with his library can tell me what edition he owned and who the translator was.  This is in relation to my interest in the parallels between Richard Burton and Mark Twain.  I know Twain did not read Burton's translation. I doubt that it left England, where it was considered by some to be pornographic.
>>>
>