14 April 1884 • Hartford, Conn. (MS, in pencil: NPV, UCCL 02951)
Keep it diligently in mind that we don’t issue till we have made a big sale. Bliss never issued with less than 43,000 orders on hand, except in one instance—& it usually took him 5 or 6 months’ canvassing to get them.
Get at your canvassing early, & drive it with all your might, with the intent & purpose of issuing on the 10th 15th 10th (or 15th) of next December (the best time in the year to tumble a big pile into the trade)—but if we haven’t 40,000 order[s] then, we simply postpone publication till we’ve got them. It is a plain, simple policy, & would have saved both of my last books if it had been followed. There is not going to be any reason whatever, why this book should not succeed—& it shall & must.
If we make any change, it must be simply a change from 40,000 to 50,000 before issuing. The Tramp issued with 48,000.
Be particular & don’t get any of that old matter into your canvassing book—(the raft episode.)
Susie has invented a musical game which we may perhaps publish, anonymously.
I think we’ll publish ◊ “1002,” anonymously, in a 15 or 20 cent form, right after Huck.
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
- Webster, Samuel Charles. Mark Twain, Business Man. Edited by Samuel Charles Webster. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. 1946
- Hill, Hamlin, ed. Mark Twain’s Letters to His Publishers, 1867–1894. Edited by Hamlin Hill. The Mark Twain Papers. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1967
MS, in pencil, Jean Webster McKinney Family Papers, Special Collections, NPV.
MTBus, 248–49; MTLP, 173–74.
see McKinney Family Papers in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.