21 December 1874 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: TxDaM-P, UCCL 01098)
Oh, come, now, I won’t stand this! The only reason why I didn’t write & ask Aldrich to abide with me was because Ponkapog had slipped my memory & I supposed he was living in town & Mrs. Aldrich would scalp me if I tried to beguile him. I was half afraid to approach you, comprehending the desperate nature of Mrs. Howells when roused.
Oh, no, this will never, never, never do. It was I Ⓐemendation that sent down to the clerk’s office for those rooms—not you. Let me have my way just this once, & next time I will let you have yours. I entirely looked upon the Aldrich as my guest.2explanatory note
I’ll add the incident when proof comes.3explanatory note
No, indeed, we’ll leave for N. O., Feb. 15. That is the idea.
Clemens replied to the following letter, which answered his of 18 December (CU-MARK):
Howells used the term “dead-heads” for nonpaying subscribers (see 2 Sept 74 to Howells, n. 4click to open link).
Presumably Clemens enclosed the three dollars Howells had sent on 19 December.
For the outcome of this proposal see 15 Dec 75 to Howells.
References
- Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology, Dallas, Tex.
- 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 6: 1874–1875. Edited by Michael B. Frank and Harriet Elinor Smith. The Mark Twain Papers. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Also online at MTPO[bib32371]. 2002
- MTHL. Mark Twain–Howells Letters. Edited by Henry Nash Smith and William M. Gibson, with the assistance of Frederick Anderson. 2 vols. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 1960
- University of California, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, Berkeley
MS facsimile. The editors have not seen the MS, which is in the Dan Ferguson Collection, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas (TxDaM-P).
L6 , 326–27; Anderson, Gibson, and Smith, 39–40.
Ferguson (1891–1963), a Dallas attorney who worked for the Magnolia Petroleum Company, donated his collection in 1956.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.