To Elisha Bliss, Jr.
27 January 1868 • New York, N.Y.
(MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 00185)

slote & woodman, blank book manufacturers, 1

nos. 119 & 121 william street,

new-york, January 27, 1868.

Hartford, Conn.

dear sir:

Your favor of Jan. 25th is received,2 & in reply, I will say that I accede to your several propositions, viz: That I furnish you to the American Publishing Company, through you, with MSS sufficient for a volume of 500 to [ 1 600 ]pages, the subject to be the trip of the Quaker City, the voyage, description of places, &c., & also embodying the substance of the letters written by me during that trip, said MSS to be ready about the first of August, [ ‸next,‸ ] I to give all the usual & necessary attention in preparing said MSS for the press, & in preparation of illustrations, in correction of proofs—no use to be made by me of the material for this work in any way which will conflict with its interest—the book to be sold by the American Publishing Company by subscription—& for said MSS & labor on my part, said c Company to pay me a copyright of 5 per cent. upon the subscription price of the book for all copies sold.3

As further proposed by you, this understanding, herein set forth, shall be considered a binding contract upon all parties concerned, all minor details to be arranged between us hereafter.4

Very Truly Yours,

Sam. L. Clemens.

[ten lines blank; new page begins:]

(Private & general.)

I was to have gone to Washington tonight, but have held over, a day, to attend a dinner given by a lot of newspaper men Editors & literary scalliwags, at the Westminster Hotel. Shall go down tomorrow, if I survive the d banquet.5

Yrs Truly

Sam. Clemens

[letter docketed:] Author [and] Samuel J Clements | Jan 27/68

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

Editorial Signs

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1 Clemens used Dan Slote’s business stationery, in part because he was again staying with Slote while in New York.

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2 Bliss’s letter, recapitulated here, has not been found.

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3 The price of subscription books varied with the kind of binding the buyer selected. The Innocents Abroad could cost as little as $3.50 (in cloth covers) or as much as $8.00 (in “Full Turkey Morocco”), earning Clemens from $.175 to $.40 per copy (Bliss to SLC, 13 Feb 71, CU-MARK).

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4 A more formal contract executed on 16 October 1868 contained further stipulations about proofreading and correcting, electrotyping, and promotion of sales. It is fully transcribed in Contract for The Innocents Abroad.

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5 No report of the dinner mentioned here has been found.

Description of Texts and Provenance

Source text(s):

MS, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (CU-MARK).

Previous publication: L2, 169–170; MTL, 1:147–48; MTLP, 13–14.

Provenance:see Mendoza Collection, pp. 516–17. An Ayer transcription of this letter is at WU; see Brownell Collection, pp. 509–11.

Emendations and textual notes:

1 600 • [‘6’] over [‘1’]

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