drew keeps framed above his desk. Just to show how such things sound I'll copy it here:
Decameron, Jones and Company
Publishers
Union Square, New York
Dear Mr. McGill:
We have read with singular pleasure your manuscript "Paradise Regained." There is no doubt in our minds that so spirited an account of the joys of sane country living should meet with popular approval, and, with the exception of a few revisions and abbreviations, we would be glad to publish the book practically as it stands. We would like to have it illustrated by Mr. Tortoni, some of whose work you may have seen, and would be glad to know whether he may call upon you in order to acquaint himself with the local colour of your neighbourhood.
We would be glad to pay you a royalty of 10 per cent. upon the retail price of the book, and we enclose duplicate contracts for your signature in case this proves satisfactory to you.
Believe us, etc., etc.,
I have since thought that "Paradise Lost" would have been a better title for that book.
