Tom Sawyer proof notes between
Samuel L. Clemens and Elisha Bliss, Jr.
31 July–7 August 1876 • Hartford, Conn.
and Elmira, N.Y.
(MS, damage emended: CU-MARK, UCCL 12720 and UCLC 31928)

agents wanted for standard works.

office american publishing company,

no. 284 asylum street, hartford, conn.

e. bliss, jr., pres’t.branch offices,118 randolph st., chicago, ill.,

f. e. bliss, sec’y and treas’r.{38 west fourth st., cincinnati, ohio.,

[Bliss, on a fragment cut from the top of page 75 of Tom Sawyer, with a line pointing to the text, now missing:]1

‸Chp 8

____ ‸

Do [you want this style to]

be [uniform? if so say]

here & hereafter.2

No, not uniform; follow copy; sometimes it is a quiet negative, & sometimes an exclamatorily vigorous one. The copy isn’t always the way I want it, though. The thing takes a different look in print from what I thought it would.3

[Bliss, on a second fragment, torn from the top of page 85:]

‸Chap 9‸

Of course! alter wherever it dont

look right. We will follow copy &

make your alterations afterwards.

Very well, what better way is there than that? Do I give you one-fiftieth the trouble that Richardson did?4

No. 2

I meant to say. Of course some things look differently set up, & need altering. Alter as you see fit & proper. We will follow copy first & make all alterations you wish afterwards. It is all right for you to do so.5

[Bliss, on the stationery to which the above fragments were pasted:]

There aint any better way & that’s a good way enough. Confound my blunders why did I not say my note was in reply to yours on 8th chap. & not let it go to you as an original ironical remark, just what it was not intended to be! I meant to concur in what you said about somethings looking differently in print from what they do in Ms., & of the necessity of changing them & to say go ahead, & make every thing neccessary;—it was all right & expected— Connected with yours on Chp 8.th, as a reply, it seems to me I say it, disconnected & as an independent remark, it might mean something else which it should not. Enclosed is letter to you.6

Yours

Bliss

Richardson made more trouble over every page than you do in a whole book. Your model Ms is my standard to gauge others by, & must not be much better & cant be really.

S. L. Clemens Esq | Elmira | N. Y. [return address:] if not delivered in ten days, please return to american publishing company, 284 asylum street, hartford, conn. [postmarked:] hartford conn. aug 7 9pm

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

Editorial Signs

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1This letter consists of notes between Clemens and Elisha Bliss, written on the proofsheets of Tom Sawyer. Bliss evidently cut the notes out of the proofs and pasted them to a piece of American Publishing Company stationery. He then added a clarification of what he had meant and sent them to Clemens. This first fragment was cut from the top of page 75; the page number is visible, as well as the running head “EARLY LESSONS.” Use the facsimile view in the upper-right corner of the interface to see images of the letter.

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2Bliss’s “Chp 8” was added in ink to his original penciled query. Page 75 of Tom Sawyer, however, is actually in chapter 7. Clemens received and read chapter 8 on 31 July (see 1 Aug 1876 to Conway), so he must have read chapter 7 a few days earlier. The earliest date assigned to this letter is based on that assumption; the last date is provided by the postmark on the envelope.

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3

Clemens wrote his reply in ink directly below Bliss’s question. His comment, about the difference between a “quiet negative” and “an exclamatorily vigorous one,” suggests that he was explaining why he had punctuated the word “No” in dialog in two different ways. The angle of the line Bliss drew to the now missing text supports this conjecture. Lines 16–17 of page 75 (about halfway down the page) reads:

“Why, engaged to be married.”

“No.”

On page 74, however, the text reads:

“Do you love rats?”

“No! I hate them!”

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4Bliss added “Chap 9” in pencil above his query, written in ink. Also visible on this second fragment is the top of the illustration at the beginning of chapter 9. Clemens replied in pencil directly below. Albert Deane Richardson was the author of two popular books (1865, 1867) published by the American Publishing Company (see 24 June 1876 to the Board of Directors of the American Publishing Company, n. 2).

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5Bliss wrote the remainder of his remarks in ink. This second fragment was pasted to the stationery only along the top edge, so that it could be folded up to reveal the text on the back.

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6Not known to survive.

Description of Texts and Provenance

Source text(s):

MS, in ink and pencil, damage emended, CU-MARK.

Emendations and textual notes: When the first fragment of proof was pasted onto the letterhead, it obscured some or all of the letters in ‘38 west fourth., cincinnati, ohio.,’. Now that the fragment has been detached, it is no longer possible to know how much of the address was visible when the letter was sent. The printed dateline, on the line below (‘hartford, conn., . . . . . . . 187 . . . .’), was entirely covered. The fragment itself was damaged over time, so that several words and punctuation marks are wholly or partly missing. They have necessarily been supplied by the editors, who based their conjectures on the context.

you want this style to • you [◊◊◊◊ ◊◊◊◊ ◊◊◊◊◊ ◊◊] [torn away]

uniform? if so say • uniform[? if so ◊◊◊] [torn away]