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Exact textual stateDraft

Desert Blood

Part of Desert Blood

StateDraft 4Surviving witnesses1TSS catalogue units19
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 SaidAhmed 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.AichaAyisha — Bedouin woman who aids and becomes involved with Clanton in Desert BloodOn Pagefirst: She identifies herself by name in the tent scene.HassanHassan — father of Yussef in Desert BloodMentionedfirst: Aicha 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: Aicha 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: Aicha 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: Aicha 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 4 — surviving Howard typescriptHoward typescript
Extent19 pagesCompletenessComplete

Physical extent: Complete 19-page untitled typescript

TSS: 50713–50731

Complete untitled Howard typescript.

Additional documentary notes

  • Untitled Witness: First Cuts describes Draft 4 as untitled. (witness level)
  • Branching draft structure: An extra page 7 survives representing a false start. First Cuts associates the comparison with TSS 45078 and the normal Draft 4 page-7 unit TSS 50720. The separate false-start Textual Version is declared in the companion Full-text & Character package. (manuscript page 7)

Source: First Cuts: The Veiled Manuscripts v1.4, Desert Blood, Editorial Notes pp. 129–130; Draft 4 pp. 175–191

Published in

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