12 February–31 March 1875 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 01199)
From London I sent you a horrible translation (in MS) of the Jumping Frog, from the French.
Please hunt it up, if you can, & send to me, I want it for the Vol of Sketches1explanatory note
letter docketed: ✓
On 7 July 1873, from London, Clemens sent Bliss a recently completed manuscript of “The ‘Jumping Frog.’ In English. Then in French. Then clawed back into a civilized language once more by patient, unremunerated toil” for publication in a pamphlet that was to include his letters to the New York Herald about the shah of Persia’s visit to England, as well as a few older sketches. He later changed his mind, and wrote Bliss to stop the pamphlet (see L5 , 409–10, 424–25). Since he now intended to include the piece in Sketches, New and Old as a substitute for the original “Jumping Frog” tale, on the final manuscript page he altered the date of completion from “London, June 30, 1873” to “Hartford, March 1875.” He might have written this letter anytime between his 12 February signing of the revised sketchbook contract and his submission of the Sketches, New and Old printer’s copy, probably in late March (SLC 1873; ET&S1 , 621; ET&S2 , 671–72).
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
- 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
- SLC (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). “The ‘Jumping Frog.’ In English. Then in French. Then clawed back into a civilized language once more, by patient, unremunerated toil.” MS of thirty-nine pages, dated 30 June, ViU. Published in SLC 1875, 28–43. Reprinted in Budd 1992a[bib00146], 588–603. 1873
- SLC (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). Early Tales & Sketches, Volume 1 (1851–1864). Edited by Edgar Marquess Branch and Robert H. Hirst, with the assistance of Harriet Elinor Smith. The Works of Mark Twain. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1979
- SLC (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). Early Tales & Sketches, Volume 2 (1864–1865). Edited by Edgar Marquess Branch and Robert H. Hirst, with the assistance of Harriet Elinor Smith. The Works of Mark Twain. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1981
MS, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (CU-MARK).
L6 , 384.
see Mendoza Collection in Description of Provenance.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.