I have collection some signed copies of Twain collections from Neider's personal library. I regret not acquiring all of them. Sent from my iPhone > On Jan 19, 2015, at 4:03 AM, Kent Rasmussen <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > While in the midst of researching Mark Twain's autobiography, I just > noticed that yesterday, Sunday, was the 100th anniversary of Charles > Neider's birth on January 18, 1915. Neider, as I'm sure most of you know > published _The Autobiography of Mark Twain_ in 1959, arranging the > material in an approximation of a cradle-to-grave narrative that differs > greatly from the new University of California Press edition of the same > material. Neider's version is still in print (at least in a Kindle > edition) and has probably been read by more people than any other edition. > > Neider died in 2001. Though almost forgotten today, he had an enormous > impact on Mark Twain studies and on public perceptions of Mark Twain > through the numerous volumes of Mark Twain's stories, sketches, essays, > novels, letters, and speeches that he edited. Among those volumes is > _The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain_ (first published in 1957 and > still available in a Kindle edition), which is almost certainly the most > widely read collection of Mark Twain's stories ever published. While we > should thank Neider for helping to keep Mark Twain's name alive through > such books, we must also regret has lapses, such as including the > editorial fraud "The Mysterious Stranger" in his short story collection. > > I’ll end this note by acknowledging that Neider’s collections of Mark > Twain’s stories, sketches, and essays played an important role in > drawing me into Mark Twain studies. I don’t know whether that fact > should be placed in his credit column or his debit column, but wherever > he is now, I’ll wish him a happy birthday.