20 January 1884 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: MH-H, UCCL 02894)
Return Webster’s letter to me.
So Webster has gone to see Florence. That takes that confounded letter off my mind. The trip will fail. Then I will go to New York & see some comedians play. Because this isn’t a Madison Square piece. We will put it into the hands of a special actor.
Let the Madison Square nibble—by the time they work themselves up to a fair rate of remuneration we can have a play ready for them.
I suppose lots of people will say it is safe to let John get out of bed within 6 weeks after he is well; but history does seem to condemn that course. What are 6 weeks in bed, to a well person, when life-long deafness or blindness may result from spending part of the 6 out of bed? Our Patrick could answer that with a sigh. One of his children is deaf.
References
- Harvard University, Houghton Library, Cambridge, Mass.
- 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
- MTHL. Mark Twain–Howells Letters. Edited by Henry Nash Smith and William M. Gibson, with the assistance of Frederick Anderson. 2 vols. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 1960
MS, in pencil, MH-H.
MTHL, 2:465–66.
see Howells Letters in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.