Thanks to Andy for the facts on railway circulation books! But I think any objection to railway books by Clemens was more financial than aesthetic. He made no profit when his name was used without permission, or when uncopyrighted jokes were included in _Ha! Ha! Ha!_. (_M.T. Business Man_, 195-96) Clemens was willing to be a railway book writer. Two publishers "declined to discuss the possibility of a twenty-five railroad book without seeing a sample of the book", presumably "1002" which Clemens had contemplated publishing "anonymously, in a 15 or 20 cent form right after Huck". (_Mark Twain's Letters to his Publishers_, 174-175) thanks, larry marshburne [log in to unmask]