Jansen McClurg & Co–ZT 8.10.1883

Jansen, McClurg & Co. till Zacharias Topelius 8.10.1883

Chicago, Oct. 8:th 1883.

Prof. Z. Topelius:

Dear Sir:

1 It gave us great pleasure to receive your esteemed favor of September 12, and to note the friendly and cordial sentiment therein expressed. We have had from the beginning no other wish than that our relations with you, as the author of works translated and published by us, should be pleasant and harmonious; and to that we still adhere.

2 Passing to the detailed points of your letter, permit us to say, so far as Miss Brown is concerned, that we do not regard her as having any claims upon us, or to any acknowledgment from us in connection with our translation of your works. From the very first volume, they have been re-translated at our expense, sentence by sentence and page by page; and it was only with a view to availing ourselves of the work which we had bought of Miss Brown, and thus reducing (as we at first mistakenly thought) the expense of repeating all this labor), that we occasionally had passages or sentences transferred from Miss Brown’s version, where they most nearly agreed with the new rendering. This method, which we must claim we had a perfect right to adopt, we soon became satisfied was a|| mistake, and a real loss, instead of a saving; and after the first volume (”Gustaf Adolf”) Miss Brown’s mss. remained, and still remain, untouched in our vault, without reference to or comparison in any way with the subsequent new translations which we have procured. We must beg to re-affirm with distinctness our former statement, that the translations which we purchased of Miss Brown proved worthless – indeed, far worse than worthless – to us. – With this statement, you will see how impossible it would be for us to name Miss Brown as entitled to any credit for the translations we have produced, and which, we are glad to know, meet your so cordial approval. And your further experience with Miss Brown may possibly explain to you our repugnance to any further communication or dealing with her.

3 Regarding your implied obligation to Miss Brown, in case she succeeds in finding another American publisher, we would ask you whether it seems reasonable that, having purchased her translations of this work in full, we would quietly permit her to bring out another and rival edition? – and whether, also, any reputable American publisher would, in view of all the facts, disregard the ordinary professional courtesy by opposing us with a rival edition?

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4 Concerning your suggestion of provisional compensation to you as author of these works, we mustoläsligt p.g.a. konservering/inbindning beg to refer you to our earlier letter to you, in which we distinctly stated that it was our intenoläsligt p.g.a. konservering/inbindningtion, in case the enterprise proved remunerative to make to you, voluntarily, a fair and justoläsligt p.g.a. konservering/inbindning acknowledgment of your literary labors. To that intention we still adhere. Your interest in the enterprise is thus identical with our own. We are sensible that a distinct authorizationoläsligt p.g.a. konservering/inbindning from you might have its weight in furtheringoläsligt p.g.a. konservering/inbindning the enterprise, and though we have felt thatoläsligt p.g.a. konservering/inbindning through our purchase from Miss Brown and our great pains to produce a worthy edition, we were fairly entitled to approval from you, we have never distinctly claimed it. We shall, of course, fully appreciate any step you may see your way to take in the advancement of our common interests.

5 Please accept, dear sir, the renewed assurance of our high and sincere personal regard.

Very truly yours.

Jansen McClurg & Co.