Charles Nieder also deserves some credit for the modern re-establishment of
Twain's reputation as a "Citizen of the World," the title of the writing by
Oliver Goldsmith ("She Stoops to Conquer") that a young Clemens read in his
piloting days.  Nieder published a pamphlet titled "Mark Twain and the
Russians" in 1960 which opened my eyes regarding the international
reputation of Twain, even in Communist countries, partly as a result of
Twain's anti-imperialist writings, largely ignored here, at least until the
pioneering work of the late Jim Zwick, and the earlier, undeservedly
neglected book by the historian, Philip Foner, "Mark Twain: Social Critic"
(1958).
Martin Zehr
Kansas City, Missouri

On Mon, Jan 19, 2015 at 3:03 AM, Kent Rasmussen <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> While in the midst of researching Mark Twain's autobiography, I just
> noticed that yesterday, Sunday, was the 100th anniversary of Charles
> Neider's birth on January 18, 1915. Neider, as I'm sure most of you know
> published _The Autobiography of Mark Twain_ in 1959, arranging the
> material in an approximation of a cradle-to-grave narrative that differs
> greatly from the new University of California Press edition of the same
> material. Neider's version is still in print (at least in a Kindle
> edition) and has probably been read by more people than any other edition.
>
> Neider died in 2001. Though almost forgotten today, he had an enormous
> impact on Mark Twain studies and on public perceptions of Mark Twain
> through the numerous volumes of Mark Twain's stories, sketches, essays,
> novels, letters, and speeches that he edited. Among those volumes is
> _The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain_ (first published in 1957 and
> still available in a Kindle edition), which is almost certainly the most
> widely read collection of Mark Twain's stories ever published. While we
> should thank Neider for helping to keep Mark Twain's name alive through
> such books, we must also regret has lapses, such as including the
> editorial fraud "The Mysterious Stranger" in his short story collection.
>
> I’ll end this note by acknowledging that Neider’s collections of Mark
> Twain’s stories, sketches, and essays played an important role in
> drawing me into Mark Twain studies. I don’t know whether that fact
> should be placed in his credit column or his debit column, but wherever
> he is now, I’ll wish him a happy birthday.
>