What are the copyright restrictions (collection of The New York
Historical Association) for using the image of the book
cover of "Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain in an American history
boardgame?

Thanks for the question.  

It so happens that the "Dear Yahoo" site recently had a question on
"How long does copyright last?".  The answer can be found at:

http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20020612.html

They say, in part: 

"For pre-1978 works still in their original or renewal term of
copyright, copyright is extended to 95 years from the date that
copyright was originally secured."

Since the original copyright on Huckleberry Finn was 1884, the
copyright on the text has expired, and the book can be found in
electronic form on the Internet:

http://users.telerama.com/~joseph/finn/finntitl.html

But that does not mean the copyright on the specific book you have in
mind has expired.  You'll need to check the copyright date on the book
and then apply the rules given at the Yahoo site (which themselves
come right from the US Copyright Office)  If the book cover itself
contains a work of art, that might carry a separate copyright whihc
should be noted in the book.

Hope this is what you need, but if not, let me know.  

Dave

[there was no search strategy for this answer]

For additional information: the issue of "How long does copyright
last" (albeit focussing on books) has also recently been discussed on
Google Answers:
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=18197

Hello, Neleh.

If I read the question correctly, you are interested not in the
content of the book itself, but in the cover art of a specific
edition.

This is something of a complication.  The text of "Huckleberry Finn"
has itself long since passed into the public domain.  The special
content of individual editions may, of course, still be protected
under copyright.  This may include prefaces, forwards, afterwords,
footnotes, annotations, and (unfortunately) cover art.

If you have located a good-quality image of an early edition
(pre-1923) you should be fairly safe.  If the cover art you wish to
use is later than that date, you will want to contact the copyright
holder and negotiate.

For a succinct review of copyright issues, you may wish to visit the
appropriate page at the Project Gutenberg website:

http://promo.net/pg/vol/pd.html

Good luck!

Keep in mind that you may need to apply to both the publisher of the
book and the artist of the image cover for clarification on the
copyright restrictions.  Many times the copyright will be renewed by
the estate or heirs of the original artist, thus the item will not
pass into public domain.  Even if the cover art is pre-1923, you still
need to contact the estate or descendants of the original artist or
publisher.

Regards,

Truswell