To
Olivia Susan (Susy) Clemens
19 July 1877 • New York, N.Y. (MS, correspondence card, in pencil: Sotheby’s,
New York, October 1996, UCCL 01455)
19 July 1877 • New York, N.Y. (MS, correspondence card, in pencil: Sotheby’s,
New York, October 1996, UCCL 01455)
New York, July 19.
slcSusie dear, Your doll is named Hallelujah Jennings. She early suffered a stroke of some sort, & since that day all efforts of the best physicians have failed to take the stiffening out of her legs. TheyⒶemendation say incessant bathing is the only thing that can give her eventual relief. Her child, Glory Ann Jennings, is sickly & must be b never be bathed. She cries a good deal in a quiet way, but if you pinch her face together you can vary the expression & make her smile, after a sickly fashion. HosannahⒶemendation Maria’s child, (named Whoop-Jamboree), is similar. I send the children with their mothers. I kiss you all.
Papa.
References
- 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
- Sotheby’s, New York, N.Y.
- Wecter, Dixon. The Love Letters of Mark Twain. Edited by Dixon Wecter. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1949
- Davis, Chester L., Sr. “Family Letters of the 1890s (Continuation).” Twainian 37 (September–October): 1–4 1978
- Christie, Manson and Woods International, New York City
MS, correspondence card, in pencil, collection of Victor and Irene Murr Jacobs, seen at Sotheby’s, New York, while awaiting sale in 1996.
LLMT , 202; Davis 1978, 4; Christie’s catalog, sale of 17 May 1991, lot 90, partial publication; Sotheby’s catalog, sale of 29 October 1996, lot 210, partial publication.
The letter was among those which, in the 1950s, Clara Clemens Samossoud gave or sold to Chester L. Davis, Sr. After his death in 1987, it became part of the collection of Chester L. Davis, Jr. The letter was sold by Christie’s in 1991 to James Lowe, who in turn sold it to the Jacobses later that year. The Jacobs collection was sold by Sotheby’s on 29 October 1996.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.