1 Clemens had either just seen Seaver in New York, or intended to see him on his return trip. On 2 or 3 July he evidently obtained a copy of The Gilded Age from the American Publishing Company office and wrote this letter in it, adding commentary on every chapter opening and on many passages throughout the book. For example, on page 551 (chapter 50), where Laura Hawkins’s death is reported, he noted, “Warner wrote a chapter, first, disposing of Laura by sending her into Western retirement & obscurity—but I replaced it with this one” (NN-B; see also Leisy).

2 It is not clear why Clemens wrote Seaver’s address inside the book. He may have asked Elisha Bliss to mail it to New York, or perhaps he intended to deliver it himself on his return trip. In addition to his magazine duties, Seaver was president of the Adriatic Fire Insurance Company, with offices at 187 (not 185) Broadway (Wilson 1874, 24, “City Register,” 25).