Name/Title
Letter from Moses Thomas to Henry BrevoortEntry/Object ID
HHV 003.762Description
Letter from Moses Thomas to Henry BrevoortSubject
Paper order, competition amongst Philadelphia booksellers for Sketch Book No 2 sales, request for exclusive sales of No. 3, competition with Wiley since Thomas’ brother “small establishment” in NYC, “Tales of My Landlord” (Sir Walter Scott), Knickerbocker, Wiley’s claims over Irving works vs. ThomasSubject Person/Organization
Moses Thomas, Henry Brevoort, C. S. Winkle, Washington Irving (1783-1859), Wells & LillySubject Place
* Untyped Subject Place
Philadelphia, PA, New YorkCollection
Irving Manuscript CollectionTranscription
Transcription
Philad’. 19 Aug’t . 1819
Dear Sir
A prefs of business for the last four / days has prevented my answering your / last letter. I had shipped the paper / however, several days before your wrote. / + advised Mr. Van Winkle of it about / the time your letter reached me.
Will you please to inform [^ me] how many / copies of No 1 of the Sketch Book are left? / I shall probably trouble to sell more than / the 500 I purchased. By the by I have / not sold near so many of No 2 _ although / I am convinced as many have been sold (as / of No. 1) in this city. There can be no other / cause for this except that more of No 2
[END OF PAGE 1]
Have come here thro’ other channels. Would / it be amifs to request Mr. Wiley to to enquire of the / Booksellers what [ ^ who] have bought from him whether / they have not any here and how many? I have / not sent a copy to New York.
On what terms would you sell me the whole / edition of No 3? + giving you drafts on Wells / + Lilly + others for the amount of their purchases. + In the 500 for this city + [^ 500] for N York, I’d give / endorsed notes. No Bookseller would have any / right to complain of this arrangement, as you / know it was Mr Irvings wish that I should / have the offer of the whole edition.
Mr. Wiley has shown a great deal of unfriendly = / nefs lately since the small establishment of / my brother in N York. I attribute more to /
[END OF PAGE 1]
Him, than to any one individual, the reprinting / of Tales of my Landlord on me. I offered this / work to them at 50 [pct?] + 6 mos credit provided / they’d agree not to print it. Several agreed / to it, but Wiley wouldn’t buy a copy. He has / no claims on Mr Irving, for altho he knew Knick= / erbockers was printed exclusively his benefit, he / refused to buy a single copy! I ?? to be ?? / ?? ?? of my claims, but believe Me Ir -??page torn / ?-ill acknowledge I ?? more indis–??? /
I [^ shall] have several hundred dollars [page torn] / month for paper for Knickerbocker, [page torn] / have received half the sum in cash from [page torn] / the work _ ?? hav I [^ have] received but one n-[page torn] / 6 mos + that for only $200 at 6 mos.
You many judge of my sales from inquiry of / N York Booksellers.
Yrs truly
M Thomas
[END OF PAGE 3]
[LABEL]
Aug 10. ‘19
M Thomas
[POSTMARK - red ink]
12 [c?]
[POSTAGE STAMP - red ink, circle]
PHIL
20
AUG
[ADDRESS]
Henry Brevoort Jun’r Esq’r
New YorkTranscriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
EnglishOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Former NumberOther Number
W 493
