To Olivia L. Clemens
2 February 1873 • New York, N.Y.
(MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 00872)

No. 2.1

Sunday.

It is a good long time since the 2d of February2 became more to me than other days—a good long time since it became set apart in the calendar as the high chief day of the 365; & I think that if our mutual satisfaction in it & in the momentous fact it keeps in remembrance continues to grow as it has grown since 1870, we shall by & by become not merely the lovingest couple in the land but the happiest. I think our gales of happiness, with lulls of depression between, are quieting down day by day, & will presently be resolved into a calm great deep of love & peace, untouched by any ruffling breeze, & unshadowed by any vagrant passing cloud.

I am keeping the great anniversary in the solitude of the hotel; & not boisterously, for [ th ] last night’s [whirlwind] of excitement has swept the all spirit out of me & I am as dull & lifeless as if h I had just come waked out of a long, stupefying sleep.

I find that the Tribune review of Roughing It was written by the profound old stick who has done all the Tribune reviews for the last 90 years. The idea of setting such an oyster as that to prating about Humor! This is “journalism.” They would think me absurd if I s were to suggest that they hire Josh Billings3 to write a critique on the Iliad, but it does not occur to them that he is as thoroughly competent to do it as is thsis old ‸Tribune‸ fool to criticise a book of humor.4 What a curious idea it is to have only one book reviewer connected with a great newspaper. It would be just as consistent to hire a clerk to keep their books, write their editorials, cook their food & do their washing. No man has an appreciation so various that his judgment is good upon all varieties of literary work. If they were to set me to review Mrs. Browning, it would be like asking you to deliver judgment upon the merits of a box of cigars:5 to you, one or two whiffs of the aroma would be the utmost that your senses could enjoy, but there are millions of better qualified persons who would know that the whole box brimmed with delight. I will preach a small discourse upon this absurdity [ o◇ one] of these days.

I would just as soon see you & the Muggins as not. In fact I would walk a good long way to see you & the Muggins, although you are both constantly in my mind & heart, & that is having you pretty near neighbors. I love you both, ever, ever, every so much.

Sam.

Love to Ma & Annie.6

If a 2 Tribunes comes with the “[ God Gold] Medal” letter in them, cut them out & mail one to the Glasgow Herald, Scotland & the other to G. Fitz Gibbon, i Wellesley Terrace, u Upper street. Islington, London, England.7

Mrs. Samℓ. L. Clemens | Hartford | Conn [return address:] if not delivered within 10 days to be returned to [postmarked:] [mailed st. nicholas hotel, feb 2 ] [and] new york feb 2

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

Editorial Signs

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1 This is evidently the second of two letters Clemens wrote to his wife from New York on 1 or 2 February, the first of which is not known to survive.

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2 The Clemenses’ wedding anniversary.

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3 Henry Wheeler Shaw.

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4 The Tribune review of Roughing It appeared on 31 January. Clemens had no doubt learned from Hay at the Lotos Club dinner that he had not been asked to review it, as Clemens had requested, and that Reid had assigned George Ripley instead (12 Jan 73 to Hay, n. 1). Ripley offered little serious criticism, but instead quoted liberally from the book, concluding that it “may be regarded as one of the most racy specimens of Mark Twain’s savory pleasantries” (Ripley, 6).

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5 Olivia’s fondness for Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry, which Clemens considered “marvelous ravings,” was a running joke (L3, 95; see also L3, 26, 241; L4, 72).

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6 Jane Clemens and Annie Moffett had begun their visit on 22 January (22 Jan 73 to PAM).

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7 Clemens was unsuccessful in arranging for the reprinting of “British Benevolence” in the Darlington (England) Northern Echo, which employed his friend Fitzgibbon, or in the Glasgow Herald. His contact on the Herald may have been William Jack (b. 1834), the editor from 1870 to 1875, who was also a fellow of St. Peter’s College, Cambridge (1859–71), and a professor of natural philosophy at Owen’s College, Manchester (1866–70) (BBA, s.v. “Jack, William”). No association between Jack and Clemens has been documented, however.

Description of Texts and Provenance

Source text(s):

MS, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (CU-MARK).

Previous publication: L5, 293–294; MFMT, 47, excerpt; LLMT, 363, brief paraphrase.

Provenance:see Samossoud Collection in Description of Provenance.

Emendations and textual notes:

th • [‘f’ partly formed]

whirlwind • whirl- |wind

o◇ one • o◇ne

God Gold • Godld

mailed st. nicholas hotel, feb 2 • [l] e [] st. nic [holas hot e] b 2 [] [badly inked]