I found it was going to cost so extravagantly to make up my engravings into a separate book, that I gave up the idea; but to-day I have mailed a few of them to you in a small roll., so that you can sample them. None of them are wood; they are all “processed.”

What is the bas-relief you speak of? When did you send it, & by what friend or by what governmental vehicle? I will write the Collector of the port of New York, when I have finished this letter, & ask him if its is lying in his den. It is all right if it is there; I shall get it without trouble. Naturally our curiosity is ranging high. We want to see this bas-relief that is without a name.

We both think your photographs are excellent; & so do the children. We are very glad to have these pictures.

Mr Bunce is in Venice.

While in Paris, Mrs. Warner was kept constantly at the bedside of the late Mrs. Fiske, so doubtless she got no opportunity to go to you. Mr. Warner left here 2 or 3 days ago, & is about sailing, now, for Europe. He will be in Paris, presently, & will hunt you up. We have received the two large drawings from Mrs. G.’s pencil, & we note enormous progress over her early efforts here in Hartford. If she keeps up this gait, in advancement, she’ll dec she will surprise & gratify us all. I have not seen St. Gaudens since I last wrote. We arrived here from Ha Elmira a week ago; & meantime he has finished up his Hartford work & gone. But I shall run across him by & by.

What was it you wrote about the child’s bust? It itⒶemendation that you proposed to send a photograph of it to Mrs. Clemens for her critical inspection? IfⒶemendation so, do it; the idea is good, though I suppose a photograph would only approximately reproduce the bust. But if your idea was to send the plaster bust itself, hand it to Mr. Warner, & remind him that he particularly requested us to give him a troublesome & vexatious commission to execute in Europe. For a non-businessⒶemendation man to conduct a plaster bust across the ocean & through the Custom House is calculated to fill the bill, you know. Warner gave us what he thought was a troublesome commission, during the summer, & now he wants to pay back.

We are in our carpetless & dismantled home, living like a gang of tramps on the second floor, the rest of the house in the hands of mechanics & decorators. We have pulled down the kitchen & rebuilt it, adding twenty feet to it, & have lowered the ground in front of the greenhouse, & also carried the driveway a hundred feet further to the east (down-townwardsⒶemendation) before it enters the Avenue. Excellent improvements. Love to you both from the lot of us.