21 November 1881 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: NPV, UCCL 02093)
O yes, we forgot to say the silk stockings came——no, didn’t so much forget it as neglect it; for I have to do almost all the letter-writing, & so of a necessity a good many letters go unwritten that ought to be written; but Jean was pleased, & thanked her aunt Mollie just the same.
No, you mistake—it was not my purpose to be grammatical; & not my instinct to care whether I am or not in a private letter. To save a single moment’s time, & a single word, I will gladly break any rule of grammar., when the matter is not for print. In the case you instance, I started to say to one thing, & changed my mind & said another. If I had been writing for the press I would have changed my beginning; as it was, I was intent only upon saving the words already written.
References
- Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
- 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
- Webster, Samuel Charles. Mark Twain, Business Man. Edited by Samuel Charles Webster. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. 1946
MS, Jean Webster McKinney Family Papers, Special Collections, NPV.
MTBus, 176–77.
See McKinney Family Papers in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.