Elmira, N.Y., Aug. 6 (I think, but do
slc not know.)—Can’t you do a fellow a kindness?
I want a gold watch that will tell the minutes, the hours, & the days of the month.
Stemwinder. “Stops” & [second-hand] no object. If it will simply tell me the day of the month, & wind in the stem, I will manage to guess
the time of day. To cost not more than £100. ‸(& as much less as is reasonably possible for a
good article.‸[)]
[in margin: My wife makes me a present of this watch.] I
suppose it can’t be had for the money, but some time when you are down in the city or over in Switzerland or
Paris I wish you’d see. If you succeed I’ll send the money & you wear the watch till
you find a friend willing to wear it over-sea & gouge the duty.
Bret Harte & I are cordial enemies; so I had to rehearse & bring out our play by myself at the Fifth Avenue last Tuesday. It is proving a bigger success, even than “Col. Sellers” was.1 Chatto was there. Chatto is a fine man & a gentleman. I like him. We had a chat at the Lotos Club next day. I have left precious little of Harte in “Ah Sin,” & what there is he stole from other people. He is an incorrigible literary thief—& always was. I saved a raft of newspaper notices to send to you—saved them so carefully I can’t put my hand on them now. But when found will send.
I’ve written a new play, by myself, but shall let it lie & ripen under correction several months. Judges say the chief character is enormous. (I’m one of those judges.)2
If Raymond should go to England, I can show him a trick or two.3
Love to you all. Madam says we go to Germany (via England) next year. (She is boss.)
Yrs Ever
Mark.
P.S.—Have offered to “simultane” 4 Atlantic articles with Temple Bar, beginning with October number. You look out for them. The two last are good. I wish there were enough for Chatto or Bentley to make a 6d primer out of.4
SLC.
The enclosed, from N.Y. Evening Post is a fair sample; they all abuse the play, & that fills the house.5 The audiences are exceedingly enthusiastic.
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
For John Brougham’s comment on Cap’n Simon Wheeler, The Amateur Detective, see
3 Aug 1877 to Howells, n. 4. Clemens also showed his manuscript to William Jermyn Florence (born Bernard Conlin, 1831–91), a prominent actor, producer, and writer.
Florence gave Clemens his assessment in a letter of 3 August (CU-MARK): John E. Owens was arguably the most popular comic actor if his day, known
primarily for his role as the eccentric old farmer, Solon Shingle, in J. S. Jones’s The
People’s Lawyer. Both Augustin Daly and Horace Wall, Florence’s agent, also saw the
manuscript: see 31 Aug 1877 to Howells, n. 3.
Source text(s):Previous publication:
MicroPUL, reel 1.
Provenance:
The Conway Papers were acquired by NNC sometime after Conway’s death in 1907.
Emendations and textual notes:
second-hand • second- | hand
