29 December 1873 • London, England (MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 01018)
Livy darling, I will only write a line, to accompany these enclosures. A moment ago I looked into the drawer & saw several letters, addressed to me, in a familiar handwritingⒶemendation —yours; & they brought you before me. No, not that exactly, b◇ because Ⓐemendationnothing but you, yourself will do—but they so reminded me of you, & made me so long to see you & take you in my arms. Never mind the “gushing;” with one like me, that is nothing; I am not demonstrative, except at intervals—but I always love you—always admire you—am always your champion. In Salisbury when a gentleman1explanatory note remarked upon my taking the trouble to telegraph a Merry Christmas to my wife, saying it was the sort of thing to do with a sweetheart, I closed him up very promptly, & sad said ⒶemendationI did not allow any man to refer to my wife jestingly, however respectful he might intend to be. He apologized profusely—otherwise things would have been pretty unpleasant there, presently. I love you, my darling, whether I keep saying it or not—I always love— you—always.
enclosure 1: 2explanatory note
Preserve this, Livy, S. L. C.
6, kent terrace, regent’s park. n. w.
Xmas day. 1873.
My dear Sir,
“After compliments”, as the Orientals say, by which in this case I mean no compliments at all, but the heartiest good wishes of the season, I am to say to you, on the part of the partner of my expenses, that we shall assemble some friends here on Wednesday, New Year’s Eve, at 9 o’clock, for frivolous conversation, to be atoned for by serious supper at 11, & so we hope to see in 1874 agreeably. It will much increase the chance of our doing so, if you will give us the pleasure of your company. Will you?
S. L. Clemens Esq
Preserve this.
S. L. C.
Dec. 27, 1873.
My dear Clemens,
The best wishes of this good time be yours and all its plentiful hopes.
Since it seems unhappily so doubtful whether you will be able to come and see us, can you tell me where you would be to be found in London any day between the 13th & 2 16th of January. 4explanatory note We shall be up then, and I would bring to you the things you are so kind as to offer to take.
Some day perhaps we may write a play together. It would be great fun. 5explanatory note
Don’t address me Rev. I’m not reverend. If you do I will return the compliment.
in ink: Mrs. Samℓ. L. Clemens | Hartford | Conn. | Forest street. | rule in upper left corner: America | rule on flap: slc/mt postmarked: london.w 3 de 30 73 and boston 14 jan 12 u.s. Ⓐemendation notes and insufficiently stamped and 2 | flourish | Due 12
Unidentified.
The following two letters have been conjecturally identified as the enclosures mentioned in the first sentence of this letter.
Clemens accepted this invitation, and spent New Year’s Eve at the Brookses’ with the Burnands, the Hardmans, the Jerrolds, the Yateses, and Tenniel, among others. Brooks recorded in his diary, “Somehow, ... I did not fancy we were so jolly as usual,” in spite of the fact that
Mark Twain proposed the host and hostess in a very funny little speech.... I believe that it was only my fancy that made me think our supper less effective than our other gatherings have been. To bed at 2.30, and all thanks where all should be paid for all the mercies of the year.
This entry constituted Brooks’s last: he died, after a brief illness, on 23 February 1874 (Layard, 576–77, 580–86).
Clemens sailed from Liverpool on 13 January.
See 22 Dec 73 to OLCclick to open link (2nd), n. 2.
References
- University of California, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, Berkeley
- 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
- Machlis, Paul, ed. Union Catalog of Letters to Clemens. Edited by Paul Machlis, with the assistance of Deborah Ann Turner. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. [An updated version of the catalog can be consulted via the Letters Search page atMTPO.] 1992
- SLC (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). Mark Twain’s Letters, Volume 5: 1872–1873. Edited by Lin Salamo and Harriet Elinor Smith. The Mark Twain Papers. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Also online at MTPO[bib32371]. 1997
- Wecter, Dixon. The Love Letters of Mark Twain. Edited by Dixon Wecter. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1949
- Layard, George Somes. Shirley Brooks of Punch: His Life, Letters, and Diaries. New York: Henry Holt and Co. 1907
MS, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (CU-MARK), is copy-text for the letter and envelope. MS, Shirley Brooks to SLC, 25 Dec 73, CU-MARK ( UCLC 31915) and MS, George MacDonald to SLC, 27 Dec 73, CU-MARK ( UCLC 31917), are copy-texts for the enclosures.
L5 , 536–38; LLMT 188–89, letter only.
see Samossoud Collection (letter) and Mark Twain Papers (enclosures) in Description of Provenance.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.