To
Ainsworth R. Spofford
18 July 1877 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: DLC, UCCL 12308)
18 July 1877 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: DLC, UCCL 12308)
One dollar enclosed.
Elmira, N. Y.
July 178, /77.
July 178, /77.
Sir: I, Saml. L. Clemens (Mark Twain), am the author of a Light Tragedy entitled “Cap’n Simon Wheeler the Amateur Detective,” the which I desire to copyright. To this end I enclose a printed copy of the title-page for deposit in your office.1explanatory note
Ys Truly
Samℓ. L.
Clemens
Of Hartford, Conn.
Of Hartford, Conn.
Explanatory Notes
1 Clemens sent this copyright application to Spofford, the Librarian of Congress,
not from Elmira, but from Hartford, where he was still at home on the morning of
18 July. He must have given his return address as Elmira because he expected to be
there to receive Spofford’s reply. The copyright was registered on 20 July (certificate
in Scrapbook 10:21, CU-MARK). The title page he enclosed with this letter, printed
at the head of a synopsis on a single sheet of galley proof, is reprinted in the
Appendix “Enclosures with the Lettersclick to open link.”
MS, Papers of Ainsworth Rand Spofford, DLC.
MicroPUL, reel 1.
The Spofford Papers were acquired by DLC between 1923 and 1982, primarily as a donation from Barbara Spofford Morgan.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.