To William Wright (Dan De Quille)
7 March 1876 • Hartford, Conn.
(MS: Axelrod, UCCL 01312)
(SUPERSEDED)

Mch 7.

Dr Se Dan:

I supposed that Mackey would be nearly all the time in San Francisco, but thought you would consult him by telegraph or letter. I didn’t suppose you would see the stock droop to 81 & then rise figure by figure, day after day & then write me at last that you were still waiting for that man to come, & the stock already crept up to 92! Why didn’t you telegraph me? I hope you will telegraph me next time, if it costs me $50. Did telegraphing me or Mackey never once occur to you? When I saw California go away down into the 80’s, 3 weeks ago, I came near telegraphing you to put in $1500 more for me.1

Well—never mind—it isn’t any matter to bother over a thing that has already gone by. I hope you have bought by this time, on your own judgment, even if you have had to pay 125. Don’t fail to telegraph me whenever there seems to be the least need of it. I like that sort of expense, for it saves money.

If at any time Mackey tells you it will be profitable to put in a thousand dollars or so more, (and you believe him,) telegraph me & you shall have the money in [three] hours. Whenever you want to sell, but are in doubt, telegraph me, if you can’t get at Mackey, & I’ll tell you what to do if I can.

Went to see Bliss about your book yesterday & he said he was rushing things & would soon have his canvassers in the field. He showed me a lot of the pictures & said he was ready to set the compositors to work. You ought to have been taking names all this time. Have you been doing that, old chap?

I see your late sketches floating around in the newspapers, & I notice that you are doing them well & not wasting words. To waste words is weakening to an article.2

Lovely spring weather here.

Yrs Ever

Mark.

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

Editorial Signs

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1 See 8 Feb 76 to Wright. On 28 February, writing to his sister, Lou Wright Benjamin, Wright reported that he had just finished a letter to Clemens, but said nothing about its contents (CU-BANC). That letter, which Clemens now answered, has not been found.

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2 The sketches that Clemens saw have not been identified. Two that Wright had recently published in the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise—“The Boss Snorer” (1 Jan 76) and “Eyeless Fish That Live in Hot Water” (19 Feb 76) —might have been reprinted by eastern newspapers (see Wright 1990, 20, 23–24).

Description of Texts and Provenance

Copy-text:

MS, collection of Todd M. Axelrod.

Previous publication:AAA/Anderson Galleries catalog, 17–18 February 1938, no. 4374, lot 91, paraphrase; MicroPUL, reel 1.

Provenance:The MS was offered for sale in 1938 by the AAA/Anderson Galleries. By the early 1980s it was part of the collection of Jim Williams and by 1983 it was in the collection of Todd M. Axelrod.

Emendations and textual notes:

three • th three [corrected miswriting]