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Exact textual stateDraft

Graveyard Rats

Part of Graveyard Rats

StateDraft 3Surviving witnesses1TSS catalogue units33
Textual identity is not textual authority. “Catalogue primary/default” selects the default catalogue representation; it does not mean that this wording is automatically Howard’s most authoritative text.

Characters in this exact text

Jim AllisonJim Allison — neighbor and Richard Wilkinson's only claimed friendOn Pagefirst: Household commotion.Joash SullivanJoash Sullivan — elderly enemy of the Wilkinsons and friend/informant of Joel MiddletonOn Pagefirst: Road to the graveyard.Joel MiddletonJoel Middleton — outlaw who killed John Wilkinson during the family feudOn Pagefirst: Opening backstory; later appears physically.John WilkinsonJohn Wilkinson — eldest Wilkinson brother murdered by Joel Middleton before the main actionOn Pagefirst: Opening chapter.McVeyMcVey — Marshal of Lost Knob in Graveyard RatsOn Pagefirst: Household aftermath.Peter WilkinsonPeter Wilkinson — Wilkinson brother who brings Harrison into the case and is later murderedOn Pagefirst: Opening chapter.RichardRichard Wilkinson — youngest Wilkinson brother and concealed murderer behind the Wolf Hunter disguiseOn Pagefirst: Opening chapter.Saul WilkinsonSaul Wilkinson — Wilkinson brother driven insane by the appearance of John's severed headOn Pagefirst: Opening sentence.Steve HarrisonSteve Harrison — private detective and central protagonist of Lord of the DeadOn Pagefirst: Opening chapter; initially mentioned, then physically enters in Chapter 2.Wolf HunterWolf Hunter — historical Tonkawa chief murdered by a Wilkinson ancestorMentionedfirst: Joash Sullivan's dying warning.

Surviving manuscript evidence

The records below describe surviving physical typescripts, carbons, manuscript material and documentary catalogue evidence for this exact textual state. TSS numbers identify physical catalogue units; they are not story or draft IDs.

Draft 3 — titled carbon-of-final witness set with two Glenn Lord clone pagesHoward carbon copy
Extent33 pagesCompletenessIncomplete

Physical extent: 33-page reconstructed witness set; page 24 clone lacks some words

TSS: 23046–23047, 70845, 23048–23055, 23057, 23059–23060, 70857, 23061–23065, 70863, 23066–23077

Titled carbon-of-final witness documented across 33 page positions. Two positions, pages 23 and 24, are represented by later Glenn Lord clone pages rather than surviving Howard leaves; clone page 24 lacks words in its upper-right corner.

Additional documentary notes

  • Titled Witness: Draft 3 bears the title GRAVEYARD RATS. (witness level)
  • Carbon Copy: The revised Contents describes Draft 3 as a carbon of the final text. (witness level)
  • Clone Page: Page 23 is represented by a Glenn Lord clone page and is misnumbered 21. (page 23 / TSS 23070)
  • Clone Page: Page 24 is represented by a Glenn Lord clone page; words are missing in the upper-right corner. (page 24 / TSS 23071)
  • Missing Words: Some exact wording is unavailable in the upper-right corner, so the textual state is incomplete. (page 24 / TSS 23071)
  • Pagination Anomaly: Physical/textual page 30 is misnumbered 29. (page 30 / TSS 23077)

Source: Hardboiled Manuscripts, Volume 2 v0.77, Contents; Graveyard Rats Editorial Notes p. 137; Draft 3 pp. 173–199