To 
         John A. McPherson
         
         
29 May 1877 • Hartford, Conn. (San Francisco Alta California,
9 June 1877, UCCL 01436)
(SUPERSEDED)
      
      29 May 1877 • Hartford, Conn. (San Francisco Alta California,
9 June 1877, UCCL 01436)
(SUPERSEDED)
               Dear Sir:Ⓐemendation
               
            “Mark Twain” was the nom de plume of one Captain Isaiah Sellers, who used to write river news over it for the New Orleans Picayune; he died in 1863, &Ⓐemendation as he could no longer need that signature, I laid violent hands upon it without asking permission of the proprietor’s remains. That is the history of the nom de plume I bear.
Yours, truly, 
            
         
               Samuel L. Clemens.Ⓐemendation
               
            
            May 29th.
            
“Mark Twain,” New York Times, 17 June 1877, 5.