26 November 1879 • Hartford, Conn. (MS facsimile: Baltimore Book Company catalog,
14 February 1994, no. 282, lot 38, UCCL 09849)
I am in trouble again with my helfiared book. (There—I have probably spelt that word wrong again; my dear good old mother Mr. Beecher tried a million times, if she tried once, to teach me how to spell that simple every-day word, but somehow I never could seem to get the hang of it, & to this day I cannot use it with any sort of confidence, especially in print.) It turns out that there’s five weeks’ solid work to be done on it, (the book, not the word,) yet, instead of two weeks’. So it is a hundred to one that I can’t come to the banquet. I’ve a Boston engagement, in between, (Dec. 3) & that decreases my time & consequently my chances. Therefore, I will do the wise thing: go on wo with my work d, as if there wasn’t going to be any banquet & I wasn’t invited. I hate to absolutely decline, because I want to be there; but if you don’t hear from me by Dec. 20, cross me off & consider that my book has got me where “in the door” & I can’t come.
References
- 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- Microfilm Edition of Mark Twain’s Previously Unpublished Letters. Prepared by Anh Quynh Bui, Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, Robert H. Hirst, Lin Salamo, and Harriet Elinor Smith. 8 vols. Berkeley: The Bancroft Library. 2001
MS facsimile, Baltimore Book Company catalog, 14 February 1994, no. 282, lot 38.
Merwin-Clayton catalog, 3–4 December 1909, no. 287, lot 124, partial publication; American Art Association catalog, 16 April 1925, lot 38, partial publication; Baltimore Book Company catalog, 14 February 1994, no. 282, lot 38; Kenneth W. Rendell Gallery catalog, 2001, no. 288, partial publication; MicroPUL, reel 1.
Offered for sale by Merwin-Clayton in 1909; American Art Association in 1925, as part of the collection of the late William F. Gable; Baltimore Book Company in 1994; and Kenneth W. Rendell in 2001.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.