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Exact textual stateDraft

Desert Blood

Part of Desert Blood

StateDraft 2Surviving witnesses1TSS catalogue units15
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

Ahmed ibn SuleymanAhmed ibn Suleiman — Shaykh Ali's agent/spy used in the trap for Clanton in Desert BloodOn Pagefirst: Zouza names him as the supposed lion-hunting guide.AyishaAyisha — Bedouin woman who aids and becomes involved with Clanton in Desert BloodOn Pagefirst: Identified after the tent scene.HassanHassan — father of Yussef in Desert BloodMentionedfirst: Ayisha calls Yussef the son of Hassan.Miss Augusta EvansMiss Augusta Evans — New England schoolteacher travelling in North Africa in Desert BloodOn Pagefirst: Clanton encounters her in Tebessa.Muhammad PashaMuhammad Pasha — Turkish adventurer in Tripoli; brother of Zulaykha in Desert BloodMentionedfirst: Ayisha identifies Zulaykha as his sister.Shaykh Ali ibn ZahirShaykh Ali ibn Zahir — Bedouin chief in Desert BloodOn Pagefirst: Named before Clanton reaches his camp.Wild Bill ClantonWild Bill ClantonOn Pagefirst: Opening paragraph.YussefYussef — guide/boy associated with Miss Augusta Evans; son of Hassan in Desert BloodMentionedfirst: Ayisha recounts meeting him.ZouzaZouza — Tebessa woman who lures Clanton into the lion-hunting trap in Desert BloodOn Pagefirst: Opening scene.ZulaykhaZulaykha — wife of Shaykh Ali and sister of Muhammad Pasha in Desert BloodOn Pagefirst: Ayisha names her before Clanton reaches the camp.

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 2 — surviving Howard typescriptHoward typescript
Extent15 pagesCompletenessCompleteness uncertain

Physical extent: 15-page untitled typescript; Contents says complete, Editorial Notes say incomplete

TSS: 21210–21224

Untitled Howard typescript found randomly placed on the versos of Ship in Mutiny pages.

Additional documentary notes

  • Untitled Witness: First Cuts describes Draft 2 as untitled. (witness level)
  • Conflicting completeness evidence: The Contents labels Draft 2 complete, while the Editorial Notes call the 15-page typescript incomplete. (source description)
  • Typed on recto and verso: The Draft 2 pages were found randomly placed on the versos of Ship in Mutiny pages. (whole witness)
  • Recto/verso mapping unresolved: The source establishes that the pages occur on versos of Ship in Mutiny material but this package does not invent one-to-one recto/verso pairings beyond the evidence supplied. (whole witness)

Source: First Cuts: The Veiled Manuscripts v1.4, Desert Blood, Contents and Editorial Notes pp. 129–130; Draft 2 pp. 143–156

Published in

The Veiled Manuscripts - First Cuts: The Drafts and FragmentsREH Foundation PressJune 2026 (paperback) est. July 27, 2026 (hardcover)↗