12 December 1881 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: ViU, UCCL 02115)
I am just as much obliged to you, all the same, but I have already read it—months ago—& vastly enjoyed & admired it, too; as did also the rest of this family & the visitor within its gates. There was but one regret—thatⒶemendation there wasn’t more of it. The other sex wanted to write, immediately, & praise & thank the author. I said “Do it—it is not merely a privilege, it is more than that: it is a duty. But mind you sign no name; for the toothsomest compliment is poisoned when you impose upon the receiver the necessity of writing back & thanking you for it—as tough a task as can be laid upon even the most practised pen.”
I don’t know what they did; but at anyⒶemendation rate I judge I stopped them from doing a graceful thing in an ungraceful way.
I have commanded the Osgood to send you my new book; & although I say it myself that shouldn’t, in my opinion you will travel a long way before you run across an abler binding.
Should have written long ago, but am just home from an absence of two weeks & a half.
Miss S. P. McLean, | Simsbury | Conn return address: return to s. l. clemens, hartford, conn., if not delivered within 10 days. postmarked: hartford conn. dec 12 6pm docketed, probably by McLean: sent by Mr. C. in my name
References
- University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
- 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
- Microfilm Edition of Mark Twain’s Previously Unpublished Letters. Prepared by Anh Quynh Bui, Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, Robert H. Hirst, Lin Salamo, and Harriet Elinor Smith. 8 vols. Berkeley: The Bancroft Library. 2001
MS, Clifton Waller Barrett Library, Alderman Library, ViU.
MicroPUL, reel 2.
Deposited at ViU by Clifton Waller Barrett on 17 December 1963.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.