Probably best reference for Legacy Library project:
Alan Gribben. Mark Twain's Library: A Reconstruction. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5564254. Recent booksellers and auction records usually refer to this book.

There were at least two major auctions for Twain's books. One in 1911 and another in 1951. Catalogues were made for each, but they are not online. WorldCat only shows one or two copies of each. I used search phrase: Mark Twain Library Auction. The 1911 auction catalogue was only available on microfilm in ONE library. Yikes.

According to footnote in Gayascatus:
"The Library and Manuscripts of Samuel L. Clemens," Anderson Auction Company, Catalogue No. 892. To be sold 7-8 February 1911. Items 1-500 are "mostly books from Clemens' library". An additional 310 books are listed in a catalogue titled "Mark Twain Library Auction," 10 April 1951, Hollywood, California.
http://books.google.com/books?id=SEn4ziq...

Current Exhibit at Mark Twain House (in Hartford, CT):
Marks on Papers: Mark Twain's Personal Library

"What Happened to Mark Twain's Books?
During their lives together, Sam and Livy Clemens collected an impressive library of books that they shared with their daughters, Susy, Clara and Jean, family members, and friends…. A collector who purchased books at the 1951 auction later stored them in barrels, where they remained for decades. After the books were discovered, they were auctioned in San Francisco in 1997 and The Mark Twain House & Museum acquired 210 titles, some now on display in Marks on Papers: Mark Twain's Personal Library."
http://www.marktwainhouse.org/exhibition...

http://www.marktwainhouse.org/exhibition...

I have notes on maybe 15 books found in recent auction catalogues, bookseller listings, etc. Email me for these notes.

It may be worthwhile to add these references to the wiki rather than posting each separately; that way they'll all be in one place.

Got the basics on the wiki, but thought this was too much to be posted there. I've also never wiki'd before, so I was little intimidated to try. Wasn't so bad.

Curiosity--is this an active project, and if so, might I help? I don't see MT/SLC on the lists of current or proposed libraries, but I might be looking in the wrong places. ETA Sorry, found the part where I should contact jbd1.

I have access to Gribben's two volumes.

Kirjoittaja on muokannut viestiä, elokuu 5, 2009, 7:29pm.