What collection of Mark Twain's essays was published posthumously in 1962?

The collection of Mark Twain’s essays published posthumously in 1962 was Letters from the Earth.

The book gathers Twain’s satirical, skeptical, and often sharply anti-religious writings. Its title piece imagines reports sent from Earth by the archangel Satan, who describes humanity and its religious beliefs with Twain’s characteristic irony. The collection was assembled and edited by literary scholar Bernard DeVoto.

Although the book appeared in 1962, many of the writings were created decades earlier, around 1909, near the end of Twain’s life. His daughter Clara had resisted publication because she feared the material would offend readers and damage her father’s reputation. The papers were eventually released as public attitudes toward religious criticism became more tolerant.

Readers sometimes confuse Letters from the Earth with The Mysterious Stranger, another posthumously published Twain work with a dark, skeptical tone. Letters from the Earth is the collection specifically associated with the 1962 publication.