23 April–14 May 1872 • Elmira, N.Y. (Parke-Bernet 1954, lot 290, UCCL 09424)
letter from James Redpath, missing 1explanatory note
Please send James Redpath a ½ morocco copy, Frank, & oblige
AddressⒶemendation 36 Bromfield St. Boston2explanatory note
The auction catalog that supplies the text of Clemens’s note states that it was written “at the foot” of a letter from Redpath, which it describes merely as “regarding” Roughing It. Redpath’s letter was probably a negative reply to Clemens’s 20 April inquiry about whether he had received a copy of the book, “ordered ... to be sent a couple of weeks ago.” If Redpath was among the twenty-three people to whom Bliss shipped books on 30 March at Clemens’s order, he evidently failed to receive his copy (20 Mar 72 to Bliss [draft], n. 7click to open link). The present request could not have been written earlier than 23 April, one day after Redpath received Clemens’s 20 April letter (which was docketed on 22 April), nor later than 14 May, the day before Clemens asked Bliss to send Redpath “another” half-morocco copy.
The address of the Boston Lyceum Bureau.
References
- Parke-Bernet. English & American First Editions and Other Books; Americana Relating to California and the West Collected by Jean Hersholt. Sale no. 1503 (23 and 24 March). New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries. 1954
- 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
- SLC (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). Mark Twain’s Letters, Volume 5: 1872–1873. Edited by Lin Salamo and Harriet Elinor Smith. The Mark Twain Papers. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Also online at MTPO[bib32371]. 1997
Parke-Bernet 1954, lot 290. The lot included a first edition copy of Roughing It, accompanied by a copy of a Roughing It prospectus and an unidentified letter from Redpath to Clemens, “apparently regarding the present work.” Clemens’s note to Frank Bliss was written “at the foot” of Redpath’s letter.
L5 , 82.
When offered for sale in 1954 the MS was part of the collection of Jean Hersholt.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.