Elmira, May 5.
My Dear Warner:1
Business. A San Francisco friend sends me a “Chronicle,” whereby it appears that only my portions of the book are used in the play. It says “The story of Philip, Alice & all their friends is entirely left out.—2 It is a one-character play, like Rip Van Winkle.3 The one character is Sellers.
Now what I want to propose is this: & it seems fair to me. You make over to me your ownership in our dramatic copyright (duly in writing,) so far as it concerns characters created by me in the Gilded Age, & I will convey to you my owner dramatic ownership in all the characters created by you. You can [ then dramatize or permit to be ] then use your characters in a drama, [ if you wish to, include any or all ]if you wish to, [ & use ‸also‸ any of mine except Sellers, & ] & I will buy this play of Densmore, re-write it if it is worth it—or burn it, & write one myself & enjoin D. from playing his.4
I know Mr. D. mighty well & he shan’t run any play on my [brains. He ] is the chap who finished Bret Harte’s story for him without Bret’s asking it.5 Give me an early answer to my proposition. ‸If you like it, please send me a copy of our printed dramatic copy-right page.‸
Not Business.—We are packing trunks—we remove to the farm today.6 Livy ventured to sit through two acts of Rip Van Winkle last night, & got hesrself pretty full of back-aches; but she is tolerably well this morning again. If you & Susie will only give us a call at the farm presently, we would be a couple of entirely delighted people.
Ever Yrs
Mark.
Chas. D. Warner Esq.
Editor “Courant”
Hartford
Conn [in upper left corner:] Personal.
[rule]
[postmarked:]
[elmira n. y. may ] 5
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
The Gilded Age dramatization is discussed in the notes below. In addition,
Warner’s letter included allusions to: the February–April 1874 rebellion in Saga, Japan, in which samurai
retainers of the former daimyo (or feudal lord) tried in vain to restore his authority and their own privileges; Edward H. House
(see 22 May 74 to Bliss, n. 1); the death, on 19 April,
of Abner Jackson, the president since 1867 of Trinity College in Hartford; Austin Cornelius Dunham (see 3 Oct 74 to Howells, n. 3); and Baddeck, and That Sort
of Thing, just published, which described a trip Warner had taken with Twichell. Warner’s article on
“spring in New England” did not appear in the Atlantic Monthly (Norman,
423–24; Hane, 113–14; “Japan,” New York Times, 30 Apr 74, 2;
Trumbull, 1:443; Warner
1874; BAL, 8:21128).
had seen a play announced there, presenting the character of Colonel Sellers, dramatized by Gilbert S. Densmore
and played by John T. Raymond. Goodman immediately wrote Clemens; also a letter came from Warner, in Hartford, who had noticed in
San Francisco papers announcements of the play. (MTB, 1:517) Gilbert B. Densmore (also misidentified as G. S. Densmore and R. G. Densmore, and by Clemens as J. B. Densmore
[BAL, 3:7271; Scharnhorst 1995, 87; Harte 1997, 81 n. 5, 99 n. 6; L5, 369 n. 4; 3 Nov 74 to the editor of the Hartford Evening Post]) was a long-term editor and currently also co-owner and drama critic of the San Francisco Golden Era, a literary weekly. His “Gilded Age” was announced as “in
preparation” on 17 April 1874 (“Amusements,” San Francisco Chronicle, 4). It
was staged successfully at the California Theater on 22–24 April, and again on 2 May. Since it is unlikely that Goodman
was in San Francisco at that time (see 23 Apr 74 to Finlay, n.
5), Paine’s report that he had sent the alert was incorrect, probably a result of Clemens’s inaccurate
recollection. The helpful “San Francisco friend” was Denis E. McCarthy, formerly co-proprietor with Goodman of
the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise and now the managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. He sent Clemens the long front-page article in which, on 26 April, the Chronicle’s drama critic reported that Densmore has managed to select with great care and discretion so much of Mark Twain’s big book, “The
Gilded Age,” as is fit for stage presentation, and to weave it with new material of his own into an excellent play. The
story of Philip, Alice and all their friends is entirely left out. The political allusions are condensed, and the characters of
Silas and Clay Hawkins brought into proper theatrical prominence. Thus a really good specimen of modern comedy has been made from a
very unmanageable volume. . . . A great share in this happy result is undoubtedly due to Mr.
Raymond’s capital performance of the part of “Colonel Sellers.” He has seized upon and elaborated
the idea into one of those characters that become absolutely identified with the name of their first impersonators, and it is not
likely that in this city any one will think it wise to attempt to rival him in its portrayal. The boundless confidence, courage and
coolness of the whimsical Colonel, his readiness, wit and honesty, are each invested with due importance by Mr. Raymond, who is not
at any time likely to obtain a part better suited to his idiosyncrasies. . . . The play . . . will afford Mr. Raymond a capital star part wherever he may happen to
go. (“Footlight Flashes,” 1) Warner and Clemens, on 19 May 1873, had requested a copyright on the title The Gilded Age: A Drama by
submitting it and a synopsis of an unwritten play to the Library of Congress (Copyright Office Receipt No. 5604D, CtHT-W). This
copyright was never perfected, however, since that joint play was never written, published, and deposited at the library. In July
1874, Clemens copyrighted his own Gilded Age play (see 15 and 16 July 74 to Watt, n. 3; “Gilbert B. Densmore,” San Francisco Bulletin, 23 Dec 1900, Special Section, 16; Cummins, 415; Langley: 1865, 148; 1873, 192; 1874, 202; “The Gilded
Age,” Hartford Courant, 1 May 74, 2; L1, 242 n. 2; “Amusements,” San Francisco Chronicle, 20–25 Apr 74, 30
Apr 74, 3, 4; 3 Nov 74 to the editor of the Hartford Evening Post, nn. 2, 4; 16 Feb 75 to Spofford, n.
3; Thomason, 60–64, 306–13,
317–18).
Mr. F. E. Bliss, Pres. of the American Publishing Co., says that Mr. Warner told him that Mark had paid him
nothing for relinquishing his right to share the profits of “The Gilded Age” play, that
such is his distinct recollection. My own memory, I find, affords me no means of either questioning or affirming the accuracy of the statement.
I do however recall Mark’s saying that he had told Warner that he thought that he (Mark) ought to have more than half of
the profits. I know too, that there was some unpleasantness between them about it, but what the ultimate settlement they reached, I
have quite forgotten—If I ever knew. (Chester L. Davis, Sr.) Twichell’s “own memory” was probably imperfect: his remark about “half
of the profits” suggests that any “unpleasantness” between Warner and Clemens must have occurred
during early discussions about royalties from the Gilded Age book, not the play. (By the time the book
contract was signed, in May 1873, they had agreed to share the royalties equally.) In any event, there is no evidence of lasting hard
feelings (see also Schirer, 42). Soon after writing to Warner, Clemens
contacted Denis McCarthy to negotiate a settlement with Densmore and forestall any further productions of the unauthorized play. He
offered to pay Densmore $100 for a copy of his script (but actually sent him a check for double that amount, and another
$200 when his own play proved successful). It was Raymond who provided Clemens with the copy, at Densmore’s
request, but it is not clear when that took place: see 3 Nov 74 to the
editor of the Hartford Evening Post for accounts by Clemens, Raymond, and Densmore of what occurred,
and for Clemens’s description of how he wrote his version of the play.
I am very much irritated by the discovery of another California swindle upon me. In 1860, I wrote the
“Story of M’liss,” . . . for the Golden Era a weekly
San Francisco paper with which I was connected. Three years after (1863), at the request of the proprietor, Col. Lawrence, I
attempted to create a longer story or novel out of it, but after writing 9 or 10 chapters I wound it up in
disgust. . . . I find now that the Golden Era is reprinting the second story
in their columns with an advertisement saying that it will be completed in “sixty-two”
chapters. Of course this means a swindle on the public, or a forgery. (TxU-Hu, in Harte 1997, 80) The composite work was reissued in New York as a fifty-cent paperback later in 1873; in April 1875 Harte won a
lawsuit to have it suppressed (Davis and Lillis, 14:1201–2; “The Courts,” New York Tribune, 27 Apr 75, 2). Previous accounts of the bibliographic and textual history of this work have not been accurate.
Harte’s original story, comprising four chapters, appeared in the Golden Era in 1860 under the
title “The Work on Red Mountain.” In 1863, he expanded the sketch to ten chapters, which were serialized in the
Golden Era under the title “The Story of M’liss: An Idyll of Red Mountain.”
From these ten chapters, the 1873 unauthorized Golden Era version extracted chapters 1–6, part of
chapter 7, and chapters 9 and 10. The 1873 serialized chapters were misnumbered, however: the story ultimately comprised nine of
Harte’s chapters and forty-seven of Densmore’s, for a total of fifty-six, not the fifty-eight its chapter
numbers erroneously indicated. The 1873 book version corrected the Golden Era’s chapter total,
acknowledging in a footnote the contribution of “another hand” but mistakenly crediting Harte with ten rather
than nine chapters, and citing him alone on the title page (Harte: 1860; 1863; 1997, 81 n. 5, 110–11; Harte and Densmore 1873 [bib13552], 1873 [bib13553]; Walker
1969, 110, 126–32, 150, 152–57; BAL, 3:7271; Scharnhorst 1995, 78, 87).
Source text(s):Previous publication:
L6, 126–30; MTLP, 82.
Provenance:donated in January 1950 by Mary Barton of Hartford, a close friend of the Warners’, who had owned it since at least
1938.
Emendations and textual notes:
then . . . be • [heavily canceled]
if you wish to, include any or all
•
[
]f y[u wish t],
[]l[de y r] all
[very heavily canceled, some characters entirely obscured; false
ascenders/descenders]
& use ‸also‸ any of mine except Sellers, &
•
[& ]
a[lo]
any []f min[] except Sellers, &
[very heavily canceled, some characters entirely obscured; false
ascenders/descenders]
brains. He • brains.—|He
elmira n. y. may
•
elmi[r] n.y. m[ ay ]
[badly inked]
