Literary Discoveries
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Abstract
Anyone who has done work in literary archives will have made discoveries of one kind or another — unknown letters, perhaps, or early versions of works that were published later in different forms. Occasionally a scholar will find a short story, poem, essay, or memoir that has never seen print. If the author is relatively unknown or the archive unexplored, there might even be an entire novel or book of poems or collection of nonfiction that has never been published. One’s instinct is to put these texts into print. Before pursuing publication, however, certain questions should be addressed. What exactly has been discovered? Of what significance is the item? Is it finished work, or is it a project that the author abandoned? Is the discovery in the public domain? If not, who owns the literary rights? Has the piece been published already under a different title? How should the text be presented — as is, or with emendations? Where should it appear? What will the reaction from readers and colleagues likely be? Some tentative answers will be offered in this article.
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