1 May 1880 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: UkReU, UCCL 00783)
(For Mr. Chatto
I never attend to any business of my own myself—either with my publisher or other parties—because I know I shall get it all wrong. My lawyer attends to everything that is business, for me. Therefore you must do me the charity to consider that when I promised to attend to the electros & advance-sheets I was not in my right mind. I never do so thoughtless & dangerous a thing when I am “at” myself.
Of course I meant to perform all I promised. I frequently warned Bliss to forward clean, thoroughly revised & corrected prooefs to you; therefore it is likely that I also ordered the electros in the beginning, & then dismissed the matter from (what I call) my mind. I don’t know. If memories were merchandize, I think mine might bring ten cents—& swindle the purchaser.
How this world is given to blundering! We fixed a date for Tom Sawyer to issue; I Bliss was behindhand, you were not; the Canadian pirates copied your book, brought it out two months ahead of us, flooded the U. S. with it, & cost me ten thousand dollars.
letter docketed: Twain. Mark. | double rule | A Tramp Abroad | double rule | Entd at Customs | in C&W’s name | as proprietors of his | copyright | as agents for | M. Twain. | rule
MS, UkReU.
MicroPUL, reel 1.
The archives of Chatto and Windus have been on deposit at UkReU since the late 1970s and early 1980s and make up a part of its collection of Records of British Publishing and Printing. Chatto and Windus was purchased by the Random House Group in 1987.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.