I received a rather impertinent letter from Mr. Drake a week ago, mentioning reports & inquiring somewhat particularly into my affairs,—on behalf of the Company, I suppose,—but I suppose he can wait for an answer as long as I have waited for one from to the letter I wrote the Company on the same subject 3 years ago.

I am making good progress, & hope to have the book done before the end of July.

Now as to illustrations. I remember your father telling me the artist’s work & engraver’s work for the Innocents Abroad cost $7,000. Of course we can knock down a deal of that expense, now, by using the new photo- processes. I’ve got an artist, here, to my mind,—young Walter F. Brown; you have seen pictures of his occasionally in St. Nicholas & Harper’s Weekly. He is a pupil of the painter Gerome, here, & has greatly improved, of late.

He is willing to make the pictures for my book about as cheaply as the photo-people here will put them on the plates for. There are two or three of the processes, & I suited to different styles of work, & I shall have occasion to use them all. Brown has been to the process men & got their figures, & the result is this: promise:

If you will send me Eleven Ten Eleven hundred & fifty dollars, gold, to Paris, you shall receive, in return for it,

10 full-page plates	@ $18,– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – $180.00
25 half-page  do	@ 9, – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –  225.00
75 quarter-page do	@ 4.50 – – – – – – – – – – –  302.00 337.50 Ⓐemendation
100 sixth-page do	@ 3. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –  300.00
210 drawings Ⓐemendation plates – –Totals – –  1,007.00 1,042.50 Ⓐemendation

I say $1050 1100 Ⓐemendation instead of $1007 1042 Ⓐemendation to cover little possible mistakes in over under-sizing the plates. I would suggest that another $50 be added to make reasonably sure of covering such mistakes.

Our government will charge 25 per cent duty on the cost of the plates, nothing on the artist’s work. (I have been consulting the law, at the consulate.) This will add $125 or $150 to the total cost (I don’t know what the freight will be on a box of freights) Ⓐemendation plates,)—& the total cost of the 210 pictures will then be, say, $12 325 or $12 350, artist’s work included.

These pictures will cover a space of—

10	full-page – – – – – – – –	10 pages.
25	½   ″ – – – – – – – – –	12½ ″
75	¼   ″ – – – – – – – – –	19   ″
100	⅙   ″ – – – – – – – – –	17  ″
		58½ pages.

That is a general idea of the size of the pictures. I may use only 6 or 7 full-page pictures, & split up the other 3 or 4 into smaller ones; I may use some ¾-page ones, & fewer ¼-page. And so on—but the amount of space covered by pictures will remain the same & cost the same.

In addition I propose to give several pages of space to my own pictures, but these will only increase the above picture-bill at the rate of $9 a page for processing the same (& duties)—I think I won’t charge you amt anything for artist’s work, although I’ve had a good deal of trouble with these things & thrown a world of mighty poor talent into them.

As I understand

Brown agrees to submit all pictures to me & re-draw them till I approve of them. He also agrees to superintend the process business & see that the work is properly done.

If all this work is done here, the plates will be finished by the time I finish my last chapter, & the MS & the plates will cross the ocean in the same ship. But if the pictures are made in America that will cause a delay, & the artist will have to over-hurry his work besides.

I enclose proofs of plates made for this book by the processes, so that you can judge of their merit & of Brown’s drawing.

We meant the Matterhorn accident for a full-pager, but had to guess at the size. If you agree to these propositions, send me a copy of the Innocents, & also send me a single I two or three Innocent pages in a letter, per same mail—I shall be sure to get one of them, then.

If these propositions suit you, send me this cablegram at once, & Brown will go right to work, for there are stacks of MS ready:

“Clemens, care Munroe, Banker—Paris—Yes.”

Put no ◇◇◇ date, & no signature, of course.

If you don’t agree, send the same cablegram with No in place of yes—because I want this thing off my mind, so it won’t be intruding on my work.

If you agree, ship the money along, & I will pay for the artist’s work & the plates from time to time as they are approved & delivered into my hands. The best way will be to do precise for you to hand the money to Geo. P. Bissell & Co & let them send me an ordinary letter of credit for the amount. IⒶemendation can then keep it separate from my own money.

in pencil: The proofs I send are in the rough. They have not been cleaned up. They are not on clean white paper, either.

in ink: Please reply at your early convenience.