To Charles J. Langdon
per Fanny C. Hesse
1 November 1876 • Hartford, Conn.
(Sales catalog: correspondence card, listed in California
Book Auction, 1 and 15 October 1960, lot 414, UCCL 01385)
(SUPERSEDED)

. . . a 3x5 correspondence card from Samuel L. Clemens, dated Hartford Nov. 1st 1876 and addressed to “Dear Charley” in which Clemens explains why he has not granted the favor requested and extends family greetings. 14 lines of penmanship on two sides of lt. blue card, evidently not the writing of Clemens, but his signature is boldly added “Saml L. Clemens” with a flourish and a postscript “That man’s cheek is super-human”. Card is loose and bears an SLC monogram within a diamond, printed in red, in upper left corner.1

Explanatory Notes

Editorial Signs

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1 This letter may have gone to Clemens’s brother-in-law, Charles J. Langdon, the only Charles whom he consistently addressed as “Charley” at this time. Langdon presumably had transmitted the “favor requested,” but nothing is known about it or about the cheeky requester. Fanny C. Hesse, sister-in-law of Charles Dudley Warner, served off and on as Clemens’s secretary until early May 1877 (Andrews 1950, 252 n. 16; N&J3, 217; SLC 1876–85, 15).

Description of Texts and Provenance

Copy-text:

Correspondence card, listed in California Book Auction catalog, 1 and 15 October 1960, lot 414.

Previous publication: MicroPUL, reel 1.