My dear Gunn:
I have your letter, and the proposition which you make to pull a few
proofs of the masterpiece is highly attractive, and of course highly
immoral. I cannot properly consent to it, and I am afraid the great many
would think I was taking an unfair advantage of his confidence. Please
send back the document as soon as you can, and if, in spite of my
prohibition, you take these proofs, save me one.
Very truly yours,
John Hay.
Thus was this Elizabethan dialogue poured into the moulds of cold type.
According to Merle Johnson, Mark Twain's bibliographer, it was issued
in pamphlet form, without wrappers or covers; there were 8 pages of
text and the pamphlet measured 7 by 8 1/2 inches. Only four copies are
believed to have been printed, one for Hay, one for Gunn, and two for
Twain.
“In the matter of humor,” wrote Clemens, referring to Hay's delicious
notes, “what an unsurpassable touch John Hay had!”