13 April 1874 • Hartford, Conn. (Transcript and paraphrase: AAA 1924, lot 113, UCCL 09451)
paraphrase: Autograph Letter . . . relative to an item which appeared in a large number of papers & find that it is not calculated to do any harm. I’ve had no complimentary dinner, & so I wondered how the item was born—but I remember, now, that it was told on Wilkie Collins, in jest, (he had a dinner in Boston when I was there lecturing)1explanatory note & by George, in getting into print the joke has got the “wrong sow by the ear,” as the psalmist says.2explanatory note
Clemens had attended a dinner for Wilkie Collins in Boston on 16 February. Although he did not formally lecture there at that time, he did appear on the platform on 17 February, to introduce Kingsley’s lecture (see 13 Feb 74 to Kingsley, n. 3click to open link, and 13 Feb 74 to Redpath, n. 1click to open link).
The phrase does not occur in the Bible. It was among the colloquial sayings first collected by English epigrammatist and playwright John Heywood (1497?–?1580) in his Proverbs, published in 1546.
References
- American Art Association. The Renowned Collection of the Late William F. Gable of Altoona, Pennsylvania. Part 4. Sale of 10 and 11 March. New York: American Art Association. 1924
- 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 6: 1874–1875. Edited by Michael B. Frank and Harriet Elinor Smith. The Mark Twain Papers. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Also online at MTPO[bib32371]. 2002
Transcript and paraphrase, AAA 1924, lot 113, which describes the MS as “2pp. 12mo.”
L6 , 106–107.
When offered for sale in 1924 the MS was part of the collection of William F. Gable.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.