Hi Bob, Thank you for your wonderful offer! May I have a copy of "Brief Biography of the Government," please? Howard Harrelson On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 1:18 PM, Robert Hirst <[log in to unmask]>wrote: > Sharon McCoy is correct, "A Difficult Conundrum" was the original title > of "Flies and Russians," the manuscript for which is in the Mark Twain > Papers. John Tuckey, Ken Sanderson, Bernard L. Stein, and Fred Anderson > published it in *Mark Twain's Fables of Man* (UC Press, 1972), pp. > 420-24. The canceled title is reported on pp. 728-29. > > "Brief Biography of the Government" is a manuscript in the Berg > Collection, unpublished except in *Microfilm Edition of Mark Twain's > Literary Manuscripts Available in the Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft > Library, University of California, Berkeley* (2001), roll number 40. The > manuscript shows that Clemens intended it as a letter to the editor of > *Harper's Weekly* and that he signed it "Constant Reader." I can make a > transcription of it and send same to anyone who wants it. > > Bob Hirst >