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| Trunk in which Huck Finn manuscript was found |
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| Caricature |
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| Front page - manuscript |
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| Serbo-Croatian translation |
In the middle of Buffalo’s downtown district with its
eclectic buildings, covering the breadth of American architectural history, sits
its modern public library. While of interest in itself, its greatest little treasure
is a museum quality display – the Mark Twain room.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) had married and lived in Buffalo for
many years, working for a while as editor of the Buffalo Morning Express. Asked to give a manuscript of one of his
books to the library, he presented them with Huckleberry Finn in his own
handwriting. The person in charge sent one-half of the manuscript off for
binding but forgot about the other half. Years passed. Two nieces received
items from the estate of their aunt. And miraculously in 1990, the missing half
was discovered when an antique trunk was opened in an attic in Los Angeles. Rather
than putting it up for sale, the manuscript was reunited with its first half. It
rests now preserved and displayed in the Mark Twain room.
The library had already collected numerous copies of Twain’s
works—complete editions, special editions, and many foreign language editions –
Portuguese, Hebrew, Chinese, Arabic, Serbo-Croatian, along with the expected
Romance languages. In a prominent place, the Mark Twain room
exhibits his many works, but especially the trunk in which the lost half manuscript
was found. What a marvel to read the Duke’s words in his creator’s own
handwriting.
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