1 From 6 through 11 December 1875 a fair to raise funds for the Massachusetts Infant Asylum was held in Boston’s Horticultural Hall. Clemens’s letter was included in a “Book of Autographs,” called “one of the most valuable collections of notable names ever brought together” (Boston Evening Transcript, 10 Dec 75, 4). The book, valued at a thousand dollars, was awarded to a raffle winner by the Jamaica Plain table, which was presided over by Miss Adam, Mrs. Charles L. Peirson, and Mrs. S. B. Frothingham. Mrs. Peirson or Mrs. Frothingham may have been the addressee of this letter. The fair earned fourteen thousand dollars for the Infant Asylum, which cared for forty children, and had “expanded from a private charity into a public institution.” The proceeds were to be used to “cover the expense of moving into the new building erected for the Asylum” and to “carry on the good work.” Clemens’s letter was published in several newspapers before the fair closed, including the New York Times and World, and the Boston Post (see the textual commentary; Boston Globe: “The Infant Asylum Fair,” 7 Dec 75, 8; 8 Dec 75, 5; Boston Evening Transcript: “The Fair in Aid of the Massachusetts Infant Asylum,” 6 Dec 75, 8; “Brieflets,” 13 Dec 75, 1).