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You have pinned a proud feather in Uncle Remus's cap. I do not know what higher
honor he could desire than to appear before the Hartford public arm-in-arm with
Mark Twain. Everybody has been kind to the old man, but you have been kindest of
all. I am perfectly well aware that my book has no basis of literary art to
stand upon; I know it is the matter and not the manner that has attracted pubic
attention and won the consideration of people of taste at the north; I
understand that my relations toward Uncle Remus are similar to those that exist
between an almanac-maker and the calendar; but at the same time I feel very
grateful to those who have taken [?]
the old man under their wing.
The ghost story you spoke of is new to me, and if I dare to trouble you I would
ask you to send me the outlines so that I might verify it here. I do not
remember to have heard it, but I do not by any means depend upon my own memory
in matters of this kind. It is easy to get a story from a negro by giving him a
sympathetic ear, but without this it is a hopeless task. If you have the story
in manuscript, I would be very grateful to you for a sight of it; [?] if not, I will try and find it here in some
shape or
cots.twain.IMG.0562.jpg other.
While I am writing, I may as well use the gimlet vigorously.—I have a number of fables ready to be written up, but I don't want to push the public to the wall by printing them in [?] without intermission. I must ask your advice. Would it be better to print the new fables in a volume by themselves, or would it be better to bring out a revised edition of Uncle Remus, adding the new matter and issuing the volume as a subscription book? I am puzzled and bothered about it. —Glancing back over these two sheets, I am compelled to admit that you have escaped lightly. Nevertheless, you cannot escape my gratitude for your friendship to Uncle Remus.
By the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, in conjunction with the Center for the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis.