> at what point > does the editing stop? > > Kit Barry > The Ephemera Archive for American Studies= In this edition I think the editing stops with substituting "slave" for "nigger" and "Indian" for "Injun." Somebody mentiioned the John Wallace edition of HF, but I'd like to point out that he did much more than a few word substitutions. I'll give just one example. In the famous passage where Huck replies "No'm. Killed a nigger" that entire sentence is deleted in Wallace's edition, with the result that Huck simply replies "No'm" which in turn erases all the racism out of Aunt Sally's response. I don't think any of us can endorse that sort of defanging of Twain's text. But if all you do is substitute the word "slave" in Huck's reply, the racist impact of Aunt Sally's remark remains intact. There is co comparison between this new edition and the Wallace edition. I've also seen a cyber-comment that Twain would never have allowed his texts to be defanged. Nonsense! He did it all the time, usually in response to Livy, or Howells, or after road-testing his texts before an audience. In `Journalism in Tennessee' there's a newspaper editor who is described as a "crawling insect" who is "braying." Really? An insect that brays? Jack-asses bray, not insects, and in Twain's own copy of that printed text he corrected the printed text back to "jack-ass." Without original manuscripts and revised copies of his printed texts we may never know the full extent of Twain's self-editing, or how much he allowed others to fiddle with his texts. Twain's editing was not limited to word choices. Didn't he leave out a chapter about lynching from one book so as not to harm sales in the south? As Twain once remarked when the Concord Library banned HF, all of the noise and chatter would probably just sell more copies. I hope that's the result this time around. More readers for HF!! One last thought-- quibble as we may among ourselves, I hope we all circle our wagons if the attacks on Al Gribben escalate. He is one of us, a friend, a boon to Twain scholarship, and a good guy. I know a good safe-house in Austin, Texas. Kevin @ Mac Donnell Rare Books 9307 Glenlake Drive Austin TX 78730 512-345-4139 Member: ABAA, ILAB ************************* You may browse our books at www.macdonnellrarebooks.com ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1191 / Virus Database: 1435/3359 - Release Date: 01/04/11