Explanatory Notes        Apparatus Notes (Ⓐ)
This text has been superseded by a newly published text
MTPDocEd
To John A. McPherson
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(SUPERSEDED)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
Textual Commentary
Previous Publication:

“Mark Twain,” New York Times, 17 June 1877, 5.

Emendations and Textual Notes
Ⓐ  Dear Sir: ●  Dear Sir:
Ⓐ  & ●  and
Ⓐ  Samuel L. Clemens. ●  Samuel L. Clemens.