25 February 1873 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: CtY-BR, UCCL 00875)
Str StirⒶemendation Frank up—he is getting 3 or 4 weeks behindhand with his statement.1explanatory note
Man in New York wants permission to print a hundred copies or so of the Jumping Frog, “merely for distribution among friends.” He don’t say how many he wants to print for sale, though!2explanatory note
letter docketed: ✓ and S. L. Clemens | Hartford. Feb. 25. 1873.
Frank Bliss often sent Clemens the American Publishing Company’s quarterly royalty statements.
Clemens was the sole owner of the rights to his first book, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, And other Sketches (SLC 1867), having purchased the copyright from its publisher, Charles H. Webb, in December 1870 ( L4 , 269, 274, 281). The person seeking permission to reprint it has not been identified.
MS, Willard S. Morse Collection, Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University (CtY-BR).
L5 , 300–301.
The MS is laid in a first edition copy of The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (C. H. Webb, 1867); the Morse Collection was donated to CtY in 1942 by Walter F. Frear.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.