Oct. 6/82
Dear Charley—
Find out, fr in Chicago, how my old books are now sold—by ◊ canvassers? or are they ordered by individuals, or by s publishers? Are What is to account for their continuous & regular sale? It is a sale which keeps well ‸right‸ along; this last quarter equals what they used to be, in old Bliss’s time. How are these sales accomplished? Find out the method ‸while‸ in Chicago.
I’ve got an idea. The Am. Pub. Co. might be crowded, by this suit, into this compromise—I to withdraw the suit, & they to turn over my copyrights to me one or two years from now?.
Such ‸Book‸ contracts seem to be usually limited to 3 years or 5, but as I had the monumental fool of the 19th century for a lawyer, these endure forever.
Ys truly
S. L. Clemens
Source text(s):Previous publication:
MTBus, 203–4.
Provenance:
See McKinney Family Papers in Description of Provenance.
