These volumes were part of a proposed complete uniform edition of Mark Twain's previously published works that never materialized. The multi-volume edition was proposed by Harper and Row in the early 1960s. John Gerber (University of Iowa) headed up the editorial board and assembled editors who were academics (not textual experts) for at least 22 volumes of the previously published material. Harper backed out of the project after deciding it would not be a profit maker. Gerber was left without a publisher. Gerber and his editorial board scrapped around for federal grant funding and obtained some, but not enough to make headway on completing publication of all the volumes. In the meantime, MLA and the Center for Editions of American Authors gained control of NEH federal funding for such projects and insisted any books receiving funding be "stamped" as conforming to high standards regarding texual authenticity. In the mid 1970s the NEH recommended that the project be combined with the ongoing and more successful Mark Twain Papers project at the University of California. University of California Press became the publisher of what is known as the 8 volumes of the Iowa-California edition (which are not consecutively numbered, adding to the confusion surrounding this edition). Two articles in American Quarterly, Winter 1964, by Frederick Anderson and Paul Baender spelled out the publishing ventures of the Mark Twain Papers (at Berkeley) and the Iowa Works of Mark Twain project with much optimism. However, by the time John Gerber penned his memories of his work on the project several decades later (in "The Iowa Years of The Works of Mark Twain," Studies in American Humor, no. 4, 1997), he said he felt like he was recalling a farce or gothic horror story. It was an endeavor filled with professional frustrations, missteps, governmental bureaucracy, and scholastic rivalries. Unfortunately, funding for continuing the scholarly Works of Mark Twain editions which began in Iowa and ended up at the University of California seems to be lower priority and come at a slower pace than what we would hope to have. Barb