To Christian Bernhard Tauchnitz
14 September 1876 • Hartford, Conn.
(MS facsimile: Tauchnitz 1937, UCCL 01364)
(SUPERSEDED)

(Connecticut, U. S. A.)
Sept. 14, 1876.

My Dear Sir:

I met my friend Mr. Harte in New York a day or two ago, & he handed me your letter of Aug. 21st (to him.)1 That ‸you‸ should purpose adding a book or books of mine to your series is a compliment which I greatly value. I suppose, from your letter, that you have a copy of “Tom Sawyer” by you, therefore it will not be necessary for me to send one to you. The American edition has been delayed by the artists & engravers, & will not issue from the press for two months yet; but there will be no alterations from the English edition, except that it will contain this line: “To my wife I affectionately dedicate this book.” I forgot that when I sent the manuscript to London.2

That you have recognized my moral right to my books gratifies me but does not surprise me, because I knew before that you were always thus courteous with authors.3

Very Truly Yours

Samℓ. L. Clemens

Explanatory Notes

Editorial Signs

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1 In fact, Harte had enclosed Tauchnitz’s letter in one of his own, which he mailed on 9 September and which Clemens received after his 11 September return to Hartford (CU-MARK):

UCLC32412

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Tauchnitz (1816–95) had founded his Leipzig publishing house in 1837 and in 1841 began publication of his highly successful Collection of British and American Authors, in which he now wished to include Tom Sawyer. He had been granted the title Freiherr (Baron) in 1860 by Ernest II (1818–93), duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (brother of Albert, English prince consort), for his efforts to make English literature popular in Germany (“Death of Baron Von Tauchnitz,” New York Times, 15 Aug 95, 5). For Harte’s play, see 14 Sept 76 to Howells, n. 5. His novel, Gabriel Conroy, was published by Elisha Bliss’s American Publishing Company in September 1876, after long dissatisfaction on both sides (see L5, 134–35 n. 2, and L6, 483–84 n. 3, 505 n. 4).

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2 The English edition of Tom Sawyer, unlike the American, was unillustrated. There also were variations in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and wording, in keeping with Chatto and Windus house style and English usage (see TS 1980, 545–54).

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3 Tauchnitz replied (CU-MARK):

UCLC32449

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Five hundred marks was $119 (Annual Cyclopaedia 1876, 342).

Description of Texts and Provenance

Copy-text:

MS facsimile, Tauchnitz 1937, 59–60.

Previous publication: Otto 1912, 125; Meyer 1972, back cover.

Provenance:The Tauchnitz Verlag archives were destroyed in the bombing of Leipzig in 1943.