25 January 1876 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: MH-H, UCCL 01302)
Yes I would like it if you would watch Mr. Gill & post me. But the lawyer says Gill has taken my nom de plume out of the book although he has left the article in it. Of course this destroys the possibility of my s try suing him for violating trade-mark, & I don’t wish to sue him for anything else.
Now wasn’t our lawyer a lame & impotent d—d fool to compromise with Gill with Gill’s mere word as the only security that he would keep his promise?1explanatory note The more I see of lawyers, the more I despise them. They seem to be natural, born, cowards, & on top of that they are God damned idiots. I suppose our law firm are above average; & yet it would be base flattery to say that their heads contain anything more valuable than can be found in a new tripe.
Mind you keep your promise & stop off & see me.
Ultimately Gill did not make good on his promise to remove Clemens’s pen name from Burlesque (Richard H. Stoddard 1875; see 17 Jan 1876 to Osgood, n. 1). The lawyer who had made the ineffectual compromise has not been identified.
MS, MH-H, Rogers Room.
MTLP , 94–95.
The Henry M. Rogers and Kathleen Rogers Collection was donated in 1930.