Conversation so far:
What was interesting in this article?
It is little known, but there was an uncompleted, lost 1911 version of The Birth of a Nation, titled The Clansman.
What is wrong with the later releases?
Many home media releases of Birth of a Nation consisted of poor quality DVDs with different edits, scores, running speeds and usually in definitely unoriginal black and white.
What year did D. W. Griffith purchase The Clansmen?
D. W. Griffith agreed to pay Thomas Dixon $10,000 for the rights to his play The Clansman.

Question: What year was the original production?
Self-contained rewrite: What year was the original play The Clansmen?