28 February 1873 • Hartford, Conn. (Transcript and paraphrase: Heritage, item 199, UCCL 09999)
paraphrase: Twain discusses delays in receiving statements from his publisher, states that he is “so infatuated” with his new book, The Gilded Age that I hate to lay the pen down a moment, paraphrase: and adds that he is leaving for Europe shortly, as he wants to publish simultaneously in England and America. 1explanatory note
By publishing The Gilded Age “simultaneously” in both countries Clemens could acquire a valid British copyright. There was disagreement in the courts on the question of whether an author needed to be a British resident at the time of publication, but to take every precaution against having his book pirated Clemens intended to remain in England until publication was accomplished (Copinger, 60–66; French, 259–60).
References
- Heritage Book Shop. Mark Twain. Catalogue 130. Los Angeles: Heritage Book Shop 1982
- 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
- SLC (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). Mark Twain’s Letters, Volume 5: 1872–1873. Edited by Lin Salamo and Harriet Elinor Smith. The Mark Twain Papers. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Also online at MTPO[bib32371]. 1997
- Copinger, Walter Arthur. The Law of Copyright, in Works of Literature and Art. London: Stevens and Haynes. 1870
- French, Bryant Morey. Mark Twain and “The Gilded Age”: The Book That Named an Era. Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press. 1965
Transcript and paraphrase, Heritage, item 199, which describes the letter as an “A.L.S. by Twain to his publisher, Elisha Bliss, Jr. of the American Publishing Company, dated ‘Hartford, Feb. 28 [1873]’, addressed ‘Friend Bliss.’ ... The letter is signed ‘Clemens.’”
L5 , 302.
When offered for sale in 1982 (Heritage) the MS was laid in a first edition copy of What Is Man? (New York: De Vinne Press, 1906).
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.