To
Moncure D. Conway
30 December 1875 • Hartford, Conn. (Henkels 1916, lot 55; Parke-Bernet 1941, lot 127, UCCL 09659)
30 December 1875 • Hartford, Conn. (Henkels 1916, lot 55; Parke-Bernet 1941, lot 127, UCCL 09659)
To Friend Ⓐemendation
Conway: Ⓐemendation
Who will kindly remember that the billiard-odds Ⓐemendation lay with him, & Victory with his gratified friend & servant, Ⓐemendation
Mark Twain. Ⓐemendation
Explanatory Notes
1
For the circumstances of this note, which Clemens postdated, see 16 Dec 75 to Conway, n. 2click to open link.
Emendations and Textual Notes
Ⓐ
Friend (P1) ●
friend (P2)
Ⓐ
Conway: (P1) ●
Conway‸ (P2)
Ⓐ
billiard-odds (P2) ●
billiard—odds (P1)
Ⓐ
servant, (P2) ●
servant. (P1)
Ⓐ
Twain. (P1) ●
Twain‸ (P2)
Ⓐ
Hartford, (P2) ●
Hartford‸ (P1)
Ⓐ
Year’s (P2) ●
Years (P1)
References
- Henkels. Valuable Miscellaneous Books and Autograph Letters, the Property of Mr. Eustace Conway of New York, Largely Consisting of Materials Owned by the Late Moncure D. Conway. Sale no. 1168 (24 May). Philadelphia: Stan V. Henkels. 1916
- Parke-Bernet. Autograph Letters, Manuscripts and Rare Books. The Entire Collection of the Late John Gribbel, Philadelphia. Part 2. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries. Sale no. 251 (22, 23, and 24 January). 1941
- 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
No copy-text. The text is based on two transcripts, each of which derives independently from the MS:
P1 and P2 agree in wording, but each text preserves some punctuation that is characteristic of Clemens. P1 is broken into five lines, the format adopted in the present text; P2 does not include these breaks.
L6 , 607.
The letter was inscribed in a first-edition copy of Mark Twain’s Sketches, New and Old (American Publishing Company, 1875). When offered for sale in 1916 the MS was owned by Conway’s son, Eustace. When offered for sale again in 1941 it was part of the collection of John Gribbel.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.