To Abel W. Fairbanks
5 October 1868 • Hartford, Conn.
(MS: CSmH, UCCL 02756)

Dear Mr. Fairbanks1—

When I was in St Louis the other day, I received a tired & travel-worn letter, originally from Columbus, Ohio, proposing that I should lecture there during the coming winter. The s Society that sent it may have forgotten the circumstance by this time, for that letter had been browsing around a good while, & had more postmarks on it than there was room for, & so some were sticking over the edge. It had been to San Francisco; & back to New York; then to Washington; to Hartford, Cleveland, Elmira, & finally to St Louis. I suppose it would have gone to the devil, ‸dickens,‸ eventually, if it had kept on following me. It was the most faithful letter I ever saw. I conceived a fellow feeling for it, which ripened at once in‸to‸ a strong warm personal friendship—& I sat down ‸immediately‸ to answer it—which was considerable promptness for me. But something called me away, & when I came back the letter was gone. It had got used to going, I suppose, & couldn’t wait. I thought of holding on Λ till it gets back from San Francisco again, or wherever it has gone, but it loafs around too much, & wanders out of the straight track too often to be depended on, & so I fear me the winter may be over before it turns up again. Therefore, my object in [ wr ]dropping you this formal business note is to ask that you will send request some friend of yours in Columbus to (I am a stranger there,) to find out what Society that was, & (my memory is as faithful as ever about forgetting things,) & present to them my compliments & regrets, & request them to [write ]Mr. G. L. Torbert, Secretary of the Associated Western Library2 Associations, Dubuque, Iowa, on the subject of that lecture. I am sorry I have to take such an excessively roundabout & unbusinesslike way of communicating with the Columbus Society, but I know of no better one under the circumstances.

[ M ]Yrs always

Mark.

P. S. [ I ]My love to the family. I wrote Mrs. F. [to-night. I ]suppose if you sent this letter ‸of mine‸ straight to some friend of yours in Columbus it would save state the case itself & save you trouble.3

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

Editorial Signs

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1 Abel Whitmore Fairbanks (1817–94) was born in Cornish, New Hampshire, and learned the printing trade as a very young man. In 1836 he was in charge of the job office of the Detroit Advertiser, and several years later purchased the defunct Toledo Blade and successfully revived it. He moved to Cleveland in 1849 and early the next year bought a half-interest in the Herald (Lorenzo Sayles Fairbanks, 551–52; Rose, 232).—

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2 Clemens meant “Literary.”

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3 Fairbanks did exactly what Clemens suggested, forwarding the letter with the following note inscribed on the verso:

John T. Short,

The Enclosed letter is from Sam’l L Clemens, or “Mark Twain.” Please read its contents, and comply with the requests, if you can. He will give a good lecture without doubt— After you have got throgh, please return the letter to me—

Yours truly

A. W. Fairbanks

Cleveland, Oct. 7, 1868.

On 5 February 1869 Clemens wrote to Mrs. Fairbanks, “Got the invitation from Columbus, but know of no date I can give them” (CSmH, in MTMF, 69). Clemens did not perform in Columbus during his four-month tour.

Description of Texts and Provenance

Source text(s):

MS, Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif. (CSmH, call no. HM 14232).

Previous publication: L2, 258–259; MTMF, 41–42.

Provenance:see Huntington Library, p. 512.

Emendations and textual notes:

Aysylum • [‘y’ partly formed]

wr • wri wr [‘wri’ miswritten]

write • wr write [‘wr’ miswritten]

M • [partly formed]

I • [partly formed]

to-night. I • to-night.—|I