I got a call the other night from the press office at Sotheby's auction house about a Mark Twain sale they will be having this June -- the Nick Karanovich collection. I'd never heard of the gentleman (probably many of you have, though -- especially Alan Gribben!) but I checked him out online and learned he was a schoolteacher & later principal of a magnet school that he created in Fort Wayne. He lived in Indiana all his 64 years and was a passionate collector of all things Twainish. He also served on the board of the Mark Twain Home Foundation up until his death last January. Sounds like a wonderful man. He started collecting Twain in the 1960s, and the sale of his collection, with an estimated value about $800,000, will be June 19th. The 250 or so lots include books (including about 120 from Twain's own library), photos, letters, manuscripts, advertisements, movie posters -- and Twain's own mahogany writing desk. (Can you imagine any more daunting possession that that for a writer?!) A few years ago he even taught a 5-day course at Indiana University on "Collecting Mark Twain." For those of us who can't afford to bid, the viewing the week before promises to be a rare opportunity to see some marvelous & powerfully evocative stuff. For those who can afford it, well, more power to you. The young lady who called said I should expect to get their catalog in a few days. If Forum members are interested I can post more info then. Peter Salwen