In Letters from the Earth, Twain presents himself as the Father of History--reviewing and interpreting events from the Garden of Eden through the Fall and the Flood, translating the papers of Adam and his descendants through the generations. First published fifty years after his death, this eclectic collection is vintage Twain: sharp, witty, imaginative, complex, and wildly funny.

Foreword by Henry Nash Smith vii

Letters from the Earth 1

Papers of the Adam Family 57

 I Extract from Methuselah's Diary 59

II A Later Extract from Methuselah's Diary 68

III Extract from Eve's Autobiography 76

IV Passage from Eve's Autobiography 90

V The World in the Year 920 After Creation 93

VI Two Fragments from a Suppressed Book Called

   "Glances at History" or "Outlines of History" 108

  VII Extract from Shem's Diary of 920 A.C. 112

Letter to the Earth 117

A Cat-Tale 125

Cooper's Prose Style 139

Official Report to the LI.A.S. 151

The Gorky Incident 157

Simplified Spelling 163

Something About Repentance 171

From an English Notebook 175

 I The Albert Memorial 177

II Old Saint Paul's 181

III The British Museum 185

From the Manuscript of "A Tramp Abroad":

The French and the Comanches 189

From an Unfinished Burlesque of Books on Etiquette 199

 I At the Funeral 201

II AtaFire 202

III Visiting Cards 209

The Damned Human Race 219

 I Was the World Made for Man? 221

II In the Animals' Court 226

III Zola's La Terre 228

IV The Intelligence of God 231

V The Lowest Animal 232

The Great Dark 243