19 May 1881 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: NPV, UCCL 01956)
Yes, the idea is good—make the notes 3 months.
Did you get my check for $400?
Dear Charley—
Make a list of all the old bills you have paid, with dates showing when the indebtedness was created & when it was liquidated. Keep it handy for use when it comes to be needed.
When Sneider is clear out of the way, get our lawyers’ views as to plan of campaign to be begun against Dan; then let me know, & shortly afterward I will send for you to come up here & get my part of said plan of campaign.
About the same time, if American Pub. Co. stock is not previously sold, I think of starting a man up & down main street with a hand-billⒶemendation on his back offering it for sale cheap. There are signs that that concern is getting mighty feeble.
I reckon this is “my year.” As nearly as I can make it out, my London publisher has succeeded (by conniving with my London agent) in gouging me out of $19,000 on my recent book.
No, I won’t see Talbot in Boston or elsewhere. When the contract is drawn to your satisfaction & that of your lawyers, I will sign it; but I will have no interviews.
What is the aggregate of the old debts paid by you, thus far?
MS, Jean Webster McKinney Family Papers, Special Collections, NPV.
MTBus, 156–57.
See McKinney Family Papers in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.