To William A. Seaver
4 October 1876 • Hartford, Conn.
(Transcript, correspondence card: CU-MARK, UCCL 01372)

Hartford Oct 4.

[slc]Dear Seaver—I can’t, old man—am too busy. I don’t get a chance often, to write a miscellaneous article.1

Say—I overheard a conversation between two voters [the] other night which I shall repeat to you sometime when there are no ladies present. It was very brief, but stuffed with philosophy & picturesque expression.2

Yrs Ever

Mark

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

Editorial Signs

Click to add citation to My Citations.

1

The letter Clemens answered is now lost. For the literary work that was keeping him busy, see 11 Oct 1876 to Howells.

Click to add citation to My Citations.

2Possibly the conversation that inspired “The Snow-Shovelers,” a story Clemens wrote in 1886 but never published, in which two African Americans discuss political and labor issues while they work. In 2009 it was included in a collection of previously unpublished works (SLC 2009, 147–51).

Description of Texts and Provenance

Source text(s):

Transcript of correspondence card in a sales offering of unknown date, by Charles Yale, Bookseller, CU-MARK.

Previous publication:

MicroPUL, reel 1.

Emendations and textual notes:

slc • monogrammed SLC [reported, not quoted]

the • the [verso]