Kent, Re: your message soliciting examples of book dedications. I have an example of an interesting written dedication/inscription which you may have seen in the Vol. 14, No. 4 issue of the Mark Twain Circular. It is as follows: Presented to Richard D. Webb, By his attached friend, Wm. Lloyd Garrison Boston, 1870. A photocopy of the actual handwritten inscription is printed in the article. It's of particular interest (to me) because it's in an early printing of Innocents Abroad and likely before Twain's changed views on racial issues were widely known. It's difficult for me to believe that a firebrand abolitionist like Garrison would use such a vehicle for a dedication if he was in the least suspect regarding its author's proclivities with respect to racial issues. Also, as if that weren't enough, Richard D. Webb, the dedicatee, was a long- time friend of Garrison and the leader of HASS, the Hibernian (Irish) Anti- Slavery Society, a co-agitator with Garrison, prior to and during the war, for the abolition of slavery in the US. I'm awed at the prospect of your energy in taking on the task of updating MT A- Z, a reference whose entries I enjoy reading even in a random fashion. Here are two suggestions for your consideration: (1) Absalom Grimes- Clemens' Mississippi river acquaintance who was a river pilot until the outbreak of war, like Sam, and who was a member of the same irregular "brigade" which was the subject of "The Private History of a Campaign that Failed." Grimes' account of Sam's refusal to take an oath of allegiance to the Union or to volunteer his pilot services to the Union cause are recounted in the first chapter of his book, "Absalom Grimes: Confederate Mail Runner," which was published posthumously by Yale UP in 1926. The first chapter is titled "Campaigning with Mark Twain," likely to attract attention (it worked as far as I'm concerned) of Twainiacs as well as Civil War buffs. The obvious problem with the chapter, as interesting as it is, is that the account cannot be adequately corroborated, particularly the oath refusal incident. On the other hand, it's worth knowing that the account is available, since other corroborating or contradictory evidence may yet be found, in which case more definitive statements could be made regarding the nature and strength of Clemens' sympathies at the outset of the war. (2) Opie Read, the author of Mark Twain and I (Reilly & Lee, 1940), a collection of anecdotes collected in the course of the author's acquaintance with Twain. Again, I've always held this book at arm's length as far as veracity is concerned, but I haven't come across any account as yet (I'm an amateur Twainiac, as if you don't know by now) which disposes of it as an outright fraud. I see it advertised once in awhile, without any disclaimers in this regard, so perhaps it's worth mentioning. Anyway, this is my two cents' worth, a fan Martin Zehr Kansas City, Missouri