21 November–6 December 1875 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: NNWH, UCCL 10433)
“Charity covers a multitude of sins.” Therefore, it is but the plainest & simplest wisdom to keep a supply of it on hand. I know a man who has kept his supply intact all his life, & never parted with a grain of it. This man prospers. Now let all take advantage of this present Ⓐemendation Charity Fair to buy & lay in a real good stock of it.
From 6 through 22 December, an elaborate “Hebrew Charity Fair, in aid of the Mount Sinai Hospital” was held at Gilmore’s Garden, in the Hippodrome in New York. It offered a profusion of items for sale, including fine art, and netted the hospital one hundred and ten thousand dollars. Clemens’s letter was inserted in a commemorative autograph album, presumably compiled as a counterpart to an album of original sketches by prominent artists that was valued at two thousand dollars and awarded as a prize. The fair was announced as early as 21 November, so Clemens may have written his letter, in response to a request for a sentiment, between that date and 6 December, although he may have written it somewhat earlier (New York Times: “Charity Fairs,” 21 Nov 75, 12; “Amusements,” 6 Dec 75, 7; “The Hebrew Charity Fair,” 7 Dec 75, 8; “For the Sake of Charity,” 8 Dec 75, 7; New York Evening Post: “The Mount Sinai Hospital Fair,” 7 Dec 75, 2; “The Hebrew Charity Fair,” 10 Dec 75, 4; “Close of the Hebrew Fair,” 23 Dec 75, 1; New York Tribune: “Close of the Hebrew Charity Fair,” 23 Dec 75, 8).
References
- Walter Hampden Memorial Library, New York, N.Y.
- 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
MS facsimile, Walter Hampden-Edwin Booth Theatre Collection, Walter Hampden Memorial Library, New York City (NNWH).
L6 , 593–594.
The present location of the MS, inscribed in a commemorative autograph album, is not known; the photocopy was donated to NNWH in January 1968 by Dr. George Baehr.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.