per Telegraph Operator
4 December 1869 • New York, N.Y. (MS, copy received: Jacobs, UCCL 02445)
Yes I did I will never suggest again this is no regular course it is an infernal mite society2explanatory note a pure charity speculation what the mischief did they come boring me with their offensive letters for any how. Read her letter once more that I sent you She has not been civil at all first or last3explanatory note
Clemens 58/15 126 Z Adocketed by George Fall: N.Y. | Saml and in unidentified hand: S.L. Clemens | New York Dec. 4 ’69
The address of Redpath’s Boston Lyceum Bureau.
Clemens apparently was responding to the following telegram, sent to the home of Henry and Fidele Brooks:
S. E. Wasson kept a private school at 70 Orange Street, in Brooklyn (Lain, 686, 813). Her “pure charity speculation” has not been identified; the letter from her that Clemens forwarded to Redpath is not known to survive.
The following unexplained numbers, concluding evidently with the Western Union operator’s initials, appear in various places on the telegram blank: 654 ǀ 369 ǀ 9 ǀ 58/15/126 ǀ ZA.
References
- Collection of Victor and Irene Murr Jacobs. Dispersed by sale in 1996. But ODa2 is still primary source.
- 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
- Clemens, Will M. “Mark Twain on the Lecture Platform.” Ainslee’s Magazine 6 (August): 25–32. 1900
- Anderson, John, Jr. Catalogue of a Fine Collection of American Historical Autograph Letters. Sale no. 168 (15 April). New York: John Anderson, Jr. 1903
- SLC (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). Mark Twain’s Letters, Volume 3: 1869. Edited by Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, and Dahlia Armon. The Mark Twain Papers. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Also online at MTPO[bib32371]. 1992
- Anderson Auction Company. Library and Art Collection of George Bentham of New York City. Part 1—The Library. Sale no. 867 (28 and 29 November). New York: Anderson Auction Company. 1910
- American Art Association. The Renowned Collection of the Late William F. Gable of Altoona, Pennsylvania. Part 6. Sale of 8 and 9 January. New York: American Art Association. 1925
- University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
- Lain, George T., comp. The Brooklyn City and Business Directory for the Year Ending May 1st, 1870. Brooklyn: Lain and Co. 1869
MS, copy received, telegram blank filled out in the hand of a telegraph operator, collection of Victor and Irene Murr Jacobs, Roesch Library, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio (ODaW).
Will M. Clemens, 27, excerpt; John Anderson, Jr., lot 49, excerpt; L3 , 418.
The telegram, transcribed by Will Clemens before 1900, was one of five telegrams from Clemens to Redpath sold in three successive sales: in 1903 (John Anderson, Jr., lot 49); in 1910 in the library of George Bentham (Anderson Auction Company, lot 180); and in 1925 in the library of William F. Gable (AAA 1925, lot 108). In 1973, it was bought as one of four by Victor and Irene Murr Jacobs.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.