October 5 Wednesday – In Florence Sam wrote to Frederick J. Hall. He’d received Hall’s August statement and was pleased with the “good showing” of “cheap P & P & Huck Finn & Claimant.” He wanted to know how many cheap HF’s had been sold to date, and warned Hall to watch out for American Publishing Co., should they issue their own cheap copies of his book. He’d write Whitmore also to be on the lookout. He would stop any such issue. The move had interrupted Sam’s progress on PW.
Some day I hope to get to work on the Extraordinary Twins again, but I can’t guess how much of a book it will make….We are getting slowly settled here — very slowly. I think it will be as expensive as living in hotels — besides the extra cost of getting started [MTP].
The N.Y. Times, Oct. 5, 1892 p.10 “WORK OF THE COURTS” reveals more legal problems for Sam and Webster & Co.
— Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) is one of the defendants in a suit bought in the Supreme Court by Hubbard Brothers of Philadelphia, publishers, to recover $25,000 damages for alleged false and defamatory statements made in a circular by the firm of Charles L. Webster & Co., publishers, of which Mr. Clemens is a member. Each firm published a life of Gen. W.T. Sherman. That of Hubbard Brothers had an introduction by Gen. O.O. Howard, the main portion of the book being written by William Fletcher Johnson. Gen. Howard was described as a joint author. Webster & Co. published the Memoirs of Gen. Sherman, by himself, with an appendix by James G. Blaine. In the circular over which the suit has arisen, the latter firm of publishers warned their agents and the public that the Philadelphia firm was making misleading statements to the effect that Gen. Howard was writing a life of Sherman to be published by them, and an extract from a letter from Gen. Howard was given in which he appeared to brand the statements made by Hubbard Brothers as erroneous. Hubbard Brothers have a letter from Gen. Howard saying that it was unfair to pick a single sentence out of his letter. Judge Patterson of the Supreme Court yesterday appointed a commission to take testimony in Chicago and other cities in the suit.
Coincidentally, just below this item in the Times is another case being brought against (Daniel) Willard Fiske, Sam’s Florence neighbor. One wonders if they compared notes.