27 June 1870 • Elmira, N.Y. (Transcripts: WU; Anderson Galleries 1921 and 1922,
lots 151 and 52A; Chicago, lot 113, UCCL 00483)
Yes, Ⓐemendation the “Reading the Innocents” is good—tip-top.Ⓐemendation 1explanatory note We came here in a great hurry a week ago. Mr. Langdon is very ill. Sometimes we feel sure he is going to get well, Ⓐemendation but then again hope well nigh passes away. Ⓐemendation This morning the case looks so well that all are pretty cheery again.
See the American Publishing Company’s advertising circular, reproduced below. The circular’s sales boast was a gross exaggeration. Total sales of The Innocents Abroad through the first three quarters (ending 30 April) were approximately 60,378 copies. By the end of the fourth quarter (30 July) sales totaled some 69,500 copies (Hirst 1975, 314, 316, 317).
Adopted readings followed by ‘(C)’ are editorial emendations of the source readings.
References
- Madison Memorial Union Library, University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Anderson Galleries. The Sporting Library of William Brewster of New York City. Sale no. 1583 (9, 10, and 11 May). New York: Anderson Galleries. 1921
- Anderson Galleries. Rare Autographs and Manuscripts of Famous Authors, Composers, Artists. Rulers, Admirals, Marshals, Etc. Sale no. 1624 (9 January). New York: Anderson Galleries. 1922
- Chicago. Library of the Hanna Homestead, Fort Wayne, Ind., with Selections from Libraries of Chicago’s First Families: Burley, Tyrrel, et al. Sale no. 58 (25 and 26 February). Chicago: Chicago Book and Art Auctions. 1936
- Machlis, Paul, ed. Union Catalog of Clemens Letters. Edited by Paul Machlis. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. [In some cases, UCCL catalog numbers cited in this volume supersede those assigned in 1986 and reflect corrections or additions to the catalog since publication. An updated version of the catalog can be consulted via the Letters Search page at MTPO.] 1986
- SLC (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). Mark Twain’s Letters, Volume 4: 1870–1871. Edited by Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, and Lin Salamo. The Mark Twain Papers. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Also online at MTPO[bib32371]. 1995
- Hirst, Robert H. “The Making of The Innocents Abroad: 1867–1872.” Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley 1975
- Yale University, Sterling Memorial Library, New Haven, Conn.
No copy-text. The text is based on four transcriptions, each of which derives independently from the MS:
P1 is in the Rare Book Department, Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin, Madison (WU). P2 and P3 describe the MS as ‘A. L. s., 1 p., 4to. Elmira, June 27, 1870. To Mr. Bliss. Signed “Mark.”’; P4 describes it as ‘A. L. S. “Mark.” 1p., 4to. Elmira, N. Y., June 27, 1870. To Mr. Bliss. Written on his father-in-law’s business stationery. J. Langdon & Co., Elmira.’
L4 , 159–160.
The MS evidently remained among the American Publishing Company’s files until it was sold (and may have been at that time copied by Ayer; see Brownell Collection in Description of Provenance). The Ayer transcription was in turn copied by a typist and both the handwritten and typed transcriptions are at WU. The present location of the MS, offered for sale in 1921, 1922, and 1936, is not known.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.