15 December 1884 • 1st of 2 (MS, in pencil: CU-MARK, UCCL 03061)
Livy darling, I tarried a few hours at Jackson, last night, in the hotel, & slept in a room newleyⒶemendation furnished in mahogany, the prettisest furniture you almost ever saw—bedstead, dressing bureau, chairs & sofas. And on the floor were moquetrie carpets & rugs which were close imitations of the rag carpets of a former generation, but soft as velvet, of course.
We got up at 5 & took the train. All the way, in the cars, was a mother with her first child—the proudest & silliest fool I have struck this year. She beat the new brides that one sees on the trains.
Yesterday it snowed lightly all day & all night, the very first snow-fall we have yet seen. The woods this morning were fairy-land to look upon, so spectral in their white robes les, & so gracious & beautiful. Naturally I was full of thoughts of you, all the time; & yet perhaps not more so than usual—still one connects you peculiarly with the phases & spectacles of winter. I love you, sweetheart, & the children.
No letters for 3 days! But I shall hope for one to-morrow.
Mrs. S. L. Clemens | Hartford | Conn return address: return to s. l. clemens, hartford, conn., if not delivered within 10 days. postmarked: toledo [o. dec]Ⓐemendation 15 5pm remainder of postmark illegible and rec’d. hartford. conn. dec 17 1884 3am
References
- University of California, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, Berkeley
- 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 Manuscript Letters Now in the Mark Twain Papers. Prepared by Anh Quynh Bui, Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, Robert H. Hirst, Lin Salamo, and Harriet Elinor Smith. 11 vols. Berkeley: The Bancroft Library. 2001
MS, in pencil, CU-MARK.
MicroML, reel 5.
see Samossoud Collection in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.