12 November 1874 • Vernon, Conn. (MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 01148)
Livy darling, we started from the end of east river bridge, East Hartford, 2 hours & a half ago.1explanatory note Vernon is 11 miles from Hartford. The day is simply gorgeous—perfectly matchless. And Ⓐemendationthe talk! Our jaws have wagged ceaselessly, & every now & then our laughter does wake up the old woods—for there is nothing to restrain it, there being nobody to hear it.
All ready! Mark time—right wheel—forward—March! And now we swing along again.
Good bye my old darling.
addressed by OLC, in ink: 2explanatory note Mrs S. L. Clemens | Farmington Avenue | Hartford | ct. postmarked: talcottville ct. nov ◇◇ Ⓐemendation
In his 17 November journal entry, Twichell noted that his pedestrian excursion with Clemens began at “8½ o’clock,” when they “left our house in his carriage” and “rode through the E. Hartford bridge, and then took to our feet—I carrying a little bag and he a basket of lunch.” Their itinerary, “furnished me by an ancient stage driver” through N. H. Andrews, the Hartford passenger agent of the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad Company, was to take them along the old stage route to Boston: in Connecticut through East Hartford, Buckland, Vernon, Tolland, Westford, Ashford, North Ashford, West Woodstock, and New Boston, and then in Massachusetts through Blackstone, West Sutton, Northbridge, Upton, Holliston, Needham, Newton, and Brighton (Twichell, 1:12–13; Geer 1874, 27, 296).
Olivia had provided several such envelopes, to make it easier for Clemens to write to her while traveling.
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
- 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
- Twichell, Joseph H. “Personal Journal.” MS of 12 volumes, Joseph H. Twichell Collection, CtY-BR[bib10615]. 1874–1916
- Geer, Elihu, comp. Geer’s Hartford City Directory, for 1874–75: and Hartford Illustrated: Containing a Classified Business Directory. Hartford: Elihu Geer. 1874
MS, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (CU-MARK).
L6 , 277–278.
see Samossoud Collection in Description of Provenance.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.