27 March 1884 • Hartford, Conn. (MS, in pencil: NPV, UCCL 02939)
The fact looks correct—that is, that this was a legitimate item of the “manufacture”—but the price! Inquire, & see what this work was that was worth so much . How many hours—& how much an hour.
When we added $10,000 “addition” to this house, the architect drew all the plans, & gave personal attention to the building, for $500, & would have drawn the building contracts without additional charge.
Alexander & Green charged me but $800 for that whole, long, complex Slote case.
To approve & “place” 300 pictures, & contract for the drawing & processing of them is not a long or heavy job, I take it. If Anthony was hired to run through the MS & suggest things for illustration that seems kind of unnecessary, for the artist could have done that himself.
But find out what length of time Anthony put on this work, & what the system of charging is,—then we can come to a right judgment in this matter.
S. L. C. It isn’t worth while for Osgood to write me is on isolated details—he can lay all his objections before me at one & the same time, through you when you come back here.
letter docketed by Webster: 2.38 per hour— | 25 days full.
MS, in pencil, Jean Webster McKinney Family Papers, Special Collections, NPV.
MTBus, 245–46.
see McKinney Family Papers in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.