20 June 1882 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: LNT, UCCL 02222)
Confound it, the “menagerie” has to be given up for a year. Bothe Howells & Aldrich are to be absent a long time in Europe; & then Uncloe Remus vanished southward again, without giving us a chance—according to agreement—to try the strength of his voice in some empty Boston hall. I suppose that if we ever do get the menagerie on its feet we can’t hope to have Remus, because he evidently can’t conquer his diffidence.
Osgood was here last night, & we had a pleasant talk about our trip & all you charming people. I wish you would remember me gratefully to our friends the Guthries; & also to Mrs. Cox & Miss Nellie. (Which reminds me that I’ve ordered 2 copies of my new Sketches to be sent to you—one of them is for Miss Nellie, with my affectionate regards.)
Our packing is all finished, today, & a special car engaged to transport our family 400 miles to Elmira N.Y for the summer—but now a horrible rash appears upon the body of the baby!—& there is much scarlet fever in the town. The child has been pretty sick during several days; consequently we are now all of a sudden become unspeakably alarmed. The doctor cannot tell, yet, whether this rash is only heat or the other dreadful thing.
Please remember me to Mrs. Cable, & thank her for her courtesies & kindnesses to me what time I broke the bread & ate the salt of hospitality under her roof. And if there is scarlet fever near, gather the babies to your breast & fly the town!
References
- Tulane University, New Orleans, La.
- 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
- Cardwell, Guy A. Twins of Genius. [East Lansing]: Michigan State College Press. 1953
- Microfilm Edition of Mark Twain’s Previously Unpublished Letters.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, George Washington Cable Papers, Louisiana Research Collection, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, LNT.
Cardwell 1953, 81–82; MicroPUL, reel 2.
The Cable Papers were acquired in 1944 and after from Mary Cable Dennis and others.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.