Friend Clemens

I have been going to drop you a line for some days, but am so busy, I hardly get time to write anything except what is absolutely necessary. I want to say to you this. We go to work on Pros. Monday, & shall get it out very quickly— I fear your brother has written in a manner to give you wrong impressions of my views. I have said to him that the first part of a book alone, is not sufficient to make a proper prospectus of. I of course cannot get up full plate engravings, until I know the subject, & then it is well to have a variety of matter in it— I have not spoken of the position of affairs thinking it of no acc, but perhaps, it might be well to say, that standing where I do, with so many agents all over, coming in contact with the masses, I can feel the pulse of the community, as well as any other person; I do not think there is as much of a desire to see another book from you as there was 3 months ago. Then anything offered would sell, people would subscribe to anything of yours without overhauling or looking at it much. Now they will inspect a Prospectus closer, & buy more on the strength of it, than they would have done a few months ago.

Knowing this to be so, I feel particularly anxious to get out a splendid Prospectus one brim full of good matter, of your own style— I want to reawaken the appetite for the book—& know of no better means than to show them slices of a rich loaf, & let them try it— Consequently I said to your brother, “if he has anything particularly fine lets have it for prospectus.” Another thing is about having anything appear of yours or from your book in our paper. I fear you have got the impression that I am so interested in that that I wish to push & help it, even at the risk of doing you an injury— Now Friend Clemens be pleased to understand that the paper is always a secondary consideration with me— I have kept you & your book uppermost in my mind—& the paper has not had a thought that was not subservient to your book. It was started to help sell our books & to ventilate them &c &c Now this is my proposed plan to rush your next book.— I did prefer to get out extracts of it & get just as much notoriety for them as possible— I proposed to do this very soon—& whet the peoples appetites for more of the same— Now then I supposed anything in our paper as coming from the book, should be of a superior quality & would be largely copied &c— We may be wrong, & we have this to say now, that to do away with any feelings of uneasiness (if they exist) on a/c of this paper if you wish & deem best that you do not be mentioned in its columns—in connection with it or with us, nothing from the book be published in it—we will accede to it cheerfully. We do not wish any jealousy to spring up on this matter at all— We doubt the expediency of your withdrawing, just at this stage of proceedings from public view entirely—yet we may be wrong. We think an occasional Twainish thing from you, would aid the future sale of the book— Something published from the book of a rich spicy nature & credited to it—would be a great help Now there—I have wanted to say this much. I may have given advice not needed & not in place. I should not have pretended to have said as much, were it not I feel very anxious to make a great success of the book—& think I see clearly how to do it— I really wish to act every way best for our mutual interests, & no other way, & would prefer to drop the paper today where it is, rather than to have any dissatisfaction on its account arise I have made selections from Mss. here for Pros. & if you have any choice cuts further along in the book for it send them on & I will heave them in. . . . Your brother says he wrote you Knox had written up something similar to the Bull story— I never saw it & do not know anything about it. It Yours struck me as a good thing, every way. Your first chap. is splendid—smacks of the old style—

(CU-MARK)