Literary Sleuth

By ELENA BRUNET

Aug. 16, 1987 12 AM PT

Octavia Cowan was doing a research project on Louisa May Alcott’s “early sensationalist short stories, ‘Behind a Mask, or a Woman’s Power,’ and ‘Perilous Play’ ” when she found a journal entry in which Alcott reports having written “A Modern Mephistopheles.” Through the university library research system, Cowan tracked down a work by the same title, though its author remained anonymous. But within the century-old volume, she found that a reader or librarian some time ago had penciled in Louisa May Alcott’s name in the margin. When Cowan realized what she’d stumbled upon, and with her professor’s encouragement, she chose not to bury her find in a university term paper but to bring the book to publication. Cowan is today completing work on a master’s degree in English and American literature at the University of California at San Diego and plans to pursue a doctorate in literature.

For the record:

12:00 a.m. Sept. 6, 1987 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday September 6, 1987 Home Edition Book Review Page 9 Book Review Desk 4 inches; 124 words Type of Material: Correction
The Book Review has received numerous letters in response to an insert by Elena Brunet about UC San Diego graduate student Octavia Cowan and her “discovery” of the authorship of “A Modern Mephistopheles” that accompanied Jonathan Kirsch’s review of “A Modern Mephistopheles” and “The Selected Letters of Louisa May Alcott” (Aug . 16).
According to Alcott scholar Madeleine B. Stern, Alcott first published “A Modern Mephistopheles” anonymously in 1877 as part of Roberts Brothers’ “No Names Series.” Alcott herself authorized a reprint of the thriller in 1889 acknowledging that she, indeed, was the author. Stern has just published an edition of “A Modern Mephistopheles” (with “Taming a Tartar”) ; (Praeger, trade paperback: $12.95).
Octavia Cowan has written to The Times explaining her motives for wanting to publish a mass-market edition of the book.

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For the record:

12:00 a.m. Sept. 6, 1987: For the Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday September 6, 1987 Home Edition Book Review Page 9 Book Review Desk 4 inches; 124 words Type of Material: Correction
The Book Review has received numerous letters in response to an insert by Elena Brunet about UC San Diego graduate student Octavia Cowan and her “discovery” of the authorship of “A Modern Mephistopheles” that accompanied Jonathan Kirsch’s review of “A Modern Mephistopheles” and “The Selected Letters of Louisa May Alcott” (Aug . 16).
According to Alcott scholar Madeleine B. Stern, Alcott first published “A Modern Mephistopheles” anonymously in 1877 as part of Roberts Brothers’ “No Names Series.” Alcott herself authorized a reprint of the thriller in 1889 acknowledging that she, indeed, was the author. Stern has just published an edition of “A Modern Mephistopheles” (with “Taming a Tartar”) ; (Praeger, trade paperback: $12.95).
Octavia Cowan has written to The Times explaining her motives for wanting to publish a mass-market edition of the book.

Literary Sleuth

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