To Joseph H. Twichell
28 December 1869 • New York, N.Y.
(MS: CtY-BR, UCCL 00395)

New York, Dec. 28

Dear J. H.—

I hasten to enclose to you my R R ticket from New Haven to New York, before I forget to recollect it. You see, when I found, last night, that there was a boat at 11 P.M., & that a man would have to get up as early as day before yesterday to [catsh ]any train that would leave before noon, I of course sent down & engaged a stateroom—& as I haven’t any earthly use for this R R ticket, my soul swells with a boundless generosity, & I send it to you.1 If it shall be the means of making one year small year of your sad this ‸your‸ sad earthly pilgrimage seem happier, & brighter, & bullyer, it is all I ask. Pax Vobiscum! (I don’t know what Pax Vobiscum means, but it is the correct thing to say in the way of a benediction, I believe.) Good-bye. Great love to the wife & the boys.

Yrs always

Sam Mark.

I wrote Livy about your coming Feb. 1—& to be ready for the woods the first of August—& what Mrs. Hooker said to us—& everything.—Hello, I didn’t see that blank page on the other side.2

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

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1 Clemens had taken one of the coastal steamers that made daily trips between New Haven and New York City (“Steamboats,” New York Times, 27 Dec 69, 7). He was on his way to keep a 28 December lecture engagement in Trenton, New Jersey, where he was “invited to be the guest of Mr Alfred Reed” and was promised “a big house & cordial welcome both publicly & in private: also, the fee here has increased to $100” (James Redpath to SLC, 30 Nov 69, Redpath Letterpress Book, 531, IaU).

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2 Clemens squeezed his postscript into the left margin before noticing the blank verso.

Description of Texts and Provenance

Source text(s):

MS, Joseph H. Twichell Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University (CtY-BR).

Previous publication: L3, 441–442.

Provenance:It is not known when Twichell’s papers were deposited at Yale, although it is likely that he bequeathed them to the university upon his death in 1918 (L2, 570).

Emendations and textual notes:

catsh • [sic]