What is The Princess Bride's "reunion scene" that you had to write to the publisher for?

Question

In The Princess Bride by William Goldman, there is an extended section where the author says that he wanted to include a reunion scene when Buttercup first discovers that the "man in black" is in fact her beloved Westley, but his editor didn't want it in. So as a compromise, Goldman tells you to write to his publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and they will send you the "missing scene".

Unfortunately, the company no longer exists at the address given. My eBook copy also includes an asterisk after the address that, when followed to the last page, says this:

*I've been writing since Eisenhower's been president and I think this is my first asterisk. I feel giddy. The purpose of this is to announce that time has marched on. If you don't want to wait to read the reunion scene, you no longer have to. Just go to the Internet and log on to www.hmhco.com/princessbride. You'll see it right on your very own computer screen.

As it turns out, that URL goes to a dead link, and Archive.org's only history is an error page.

So what was the "reunion scene" that you would get if you wrote to the publisher or visited the website? Was it actually an additional narrative, or was it just an additional joke, such as claiming that the manuscript was lost as the book went to print?

Answer 1

As of July 2019:

If you look up the book (hardcover edition) on the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books website, you will see a link to the "Reunion Scene" on the side.

Currently, the relevant URLs are:

• https://www.hmhbooks.com
• https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/The-Princess-Bride-Deluxe-Edition-HC/9781328948854
• https://www.hmhco.com/~/media/sites/princessbride/goldman-princess-bride-response-letter.pdf?la=en

Description

Reunion scene

In the novel's commentary, Goldman writes that he added nothing to the "original" Morgenstern text. He did write one original scene, a loving reunion between Buttercup and Westley, but, he said, his publisher objected to this addition.[9] He invites any reader who wants to read the "Reunion Scene" to write to the publisher (formerly Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; now Random House) and request a copy. Many readers wrote in to the publisher and did receive a letter, but instead of an extra scene, the letter detailed the (obviously fictitious) legal problems that Goldman and his publishers encountered with the Morgenstern estate and its lawyer, Kermit Shog. This letter was revised and updated periodically; the 1987 revision mentioned the movie, while the 25th Anniversary Edition published the letter with an addendum about Kermit's lawyer granddaughter Carly. The 30th Anniversary Edition has a footnote that the three pages of the reunion scene were now available online.[10] However, the website itself contained nothing but the text of the original three letters. This website has since been taken down and superseded by the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt product page for the book, which provides the 2003 version of the Reunion Scene letter as a digital download.[11]

[9] "The Princess Bride, Chapter Five Summary". Spark Notes. Retrieved October 27, 2007.

[10] Princess bride, Harcourt, archived from the original on 2007-10-23.

[11] "The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure | HMH Books". www.hmhbooks.com. Retrieved 2019-07-23.

(Source: Wikipedia)

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