Robert Hirst

general editor and official curator, Mark Twain Project and Papers

Robert H. Hirst, Ph.D. is the General Editor and Official Curator of the Mark Twain Project and Papers, housed at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also the editor of *Who Is Mark Twain?* (HarperStudio), a collection of 24 wickedly funny, thought provoking essays and stories by Twain, none of which have ever been published before -- and all of which are steeped in contemporary relevance and humor. Hirst began his relationship with the Mark Twain Papers in 1967. He collaborated with Edgar M. Branch on several volumes of *Mark Twain's Early Tales & Sketches*. Since 1980 Hirst has been General Editor of the Mark Twain Project, so-called because it embraced two ongoing editions: the *Mark Twain Papers* in Berkeley and *Works of Mark Twain* (begun at Iowa City). Under his leadership, more than 20 volumes have since appeared, with many more still in the pipeline. The most recent volume of *Papers and Works* has been described as "an unmatched and probably unsurpassable pinnacle of editorial achievement... arguably the single greatest product of modern American editorial scholarship." Hirst is also the Official Curator of the Papers and has continuously added to the collection through both gifts and purchases. Since 1996, he has taught one course a year in the Berkeley English Department, where he is an adjunct professor. Born in New York City and raised in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., Hirst is a graduate of Harvard with an M.A. and Ph.D. in American Literature from University of California Berkeley.