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Subject:
From:
Robert Hirst <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 19 Aug 2003 13:48:58 -0700
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At 03:22 PM 08/17/2003 -0500,  Barbara Schmidt wrote:

"1) A letter dated 23 November 1880 to the Editor of the New York Evening
Post
is described as the manuscript draft of "The Shakspeare Mulberry."
Question:  Was this letter ever published in the New York Evening Post?
Or did it remain unsent? The answer should determine whether or not the
piece is now public
domain."


It remained unsent, and until the 2001 _Microfilm Edition of Mark
Twain's Previously Unpublished Letters,_ unpublished, so it is not in
the public domain, but recently published and subject to "fair
use." Clemens wrote on a title page for the sketch, intended for use
in his _Stolen White Elephant_ book: "[Written for the N.Y.
Evening Post, several years ago, but never sent--do not now remember
why.]" Howells recommended that this and several other sketches be
omitted from the book, and it _was_ therefore omitted.


"2) A letter dated 24 December 1880 to Pamela Moffett states in part:
"...I am mighty glad you could not find the Mowatt book -- I have
a special reason for detesting that work."  Question:  What is the
title of the "Mowatt" book and why did Sam detest it?"

We don't know, yet, but we welcome all the help we can get in answering
that question for the ultimate, annotated form of these letters.

Bob Hirst

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