15 August 1882 • Elmira, N.Y. (MS: NPV, UCCL 02252)
There is no fault to find with the brass man’s charge, but there is very great fault to be found with K charges. The same man who engraved the P & P picture in the catalogue in one day can take an ice-pick & engrave this wretched piece of butcher-work in less time. If not, why not? It can be engraved on wood for less than K-charges. I said that the K-work on this thing was worth $3. Not so; it is not worth $1. 50. That beautiful P & P picture cost just $1. 50. —not $5, as you say. The K-work on this thing $ cost $15 or $16 too much. The whole thing, brass & all, should not have cost over $8—& here we have paid $23 (formerly $28) for it. several words canceled Once we did a hatfull of plates, for 2 or 3 colors—first in spelter, then in brass.—I have the figures by me; & they shame this slab of coarse prentice-work for in spelter, for cheapness. Eighteen dollars is wild—perfectly wild. Give me the details of this expense, & explain them to me.
in left margin of first page: The postal is beautiful. They should be sent out by the thousand.
References
- Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
- Machlis, Paul, ed. Union Catalog of Clemens Letters. Edited by Paul Machlis. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. [In some cases, UCCL catalog numbers cited in this volume supersede those assigned in 1986 and reflect corrections or additions to the catalog since publication. An updated version of the catalog can be consulted via the Letters Search page at MTPO.] 1986
- Microfilm Edition of Mark Twain’s Previously Unpublished Letters. Prepared by Anh Quynh Bui, Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, Robert H. Hirst, Lin Salamo, and Harriet Elinor Smith. 8 vols. Berkeley: The Bancroft Library. 2001
MS, Jean Webster McKinney Family Papers, Special Collections, NPV.
MicroPUL, reel 2.
See McKinney Family Papers in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.