Hartford
18 Apr, 1873.2
Friend Reid—
How’s that, ?—for the present? Can’t hit on an entirely satisfactory [title], somehow—but we want a mere mention, now .—with either exceedingly complimentary additions, or pitiless abuse accompanied with profanity. We shall be down there within a fortnight. We think a pretty good deal of this novel I can tell you; even the paper it is written on cost eleven dollars.
Ys
Mark.
[letter docketed by Reid:]
Dear Hay:
Here’s a chance for a rollicking bit of minion. It shld be must for Saturday.1
WR
[and in unidentified hand:]Beaumont and Fletcher may now retire as
instances of genius working in double harness. Mark Twain
and Chas. Dudley Warner have written a novel in partnership!
It will be published about the end of the Summer, and will
be octavo in form and profusely illustrated. The book deals
with the salient features of our American life of to-day;
and, as might easily be divined, is in the nature of a
satire. It is known to contain all the profound philosophy,
the sound learning, and geological truth which are found in
“Innocents Abroad” and
“Roughing It,” and even more of
practical wisdom and agricultural suggestion than are
contained in “My Summer in a Garden.”
It is no holiday work. It deals with every aspect of modern
society, and we are authorized to announce that the paper on
which it is written cost eleven dollars. The collaboration of playwrights Francis Beaumont
(1584–1616) and John Fletcher (1579–1625)
was proverbial. My Summer in a Garden was
the collection of humorous essays which established Warner as a
writer of note (Boston: J. R. Osgood and Co., published in
November 1870 [L4, 294 n. 1]). The Tribune notice may also have drawn some information from a
letter that Warner wrote to Reid on 7 April: Maybe it’s a great piece of
presumption, but Mark and I are writing a novel, and can so
nearly see the end of it that it is safe to speak of it. No
one here, except our wives, knows anything of it. We
conceived the design early in the winter, but were not able
to get seriously at work on it till some time in January. If
there is any satire on the times in it, it won’t
be our fault, but the fault of the times. We have hatched
the plot day by day, drawn out the characters, and written
it so that we cannot exactly say which belongs to who;
though the different styles will show in the chapters. This
may be a good feature, giving the reader relief, and it may
be it will only bother him. It is, under the circumstances,
rather a novel experiment. (Cortissoz, 1:273) “It is an
experiment,” Reid replied, “still it has
been successful two or three times abroad, and you and Twain
will make it successful if anybody can here. Besides it seems to
me that you and he were well calculated to fit into and
supplement each other’s work. Good luck attend you
both” (10 Apr 73, Whitelaw Reid Papers, DLC).
Previous publication:
L5, 344–345.
Provenance:The Whitelaw Reid Papers (part of the Papers of the Reid Family) were donated
to DLC between 1953 and 1957 by Helen
Rogers Reid (Mrs. Ogden Mills Reid).
Emendations and textual notes:
title • tiltle title [corrected miswriting]