To
Mary Mason Fairbanks
24 and 25 December 1868 • Lansing, Mich.
(Transcripts and MS facsimile: copy by Dixon Wecter, CU-MARK; Cleveland Herald, 16 Jan 69; Sotheby, lot 5; and Sotheby Parke Bernet 1976, lot 42) 02777)
(SUPERSEDED)
I shall arrive at your house Dec. 28—[& ]shall leave again Jan. [2.— ]except that I shall lecture in Akron Dec. 30. I skip Dayton for the present.
[Don’t you know, I just kept on begging [& ]worrying Mrs. Langdon by letter, till she had to say come, to get rid of me. And so I broke a lecture engagement & stopped there from 7 p.m. 17th to 7 p.m. 18th. It was splendid. I had a hard time getting permission to come, but after I was there, none of them were anxious to have me go again—so that was a point gained, wasn’t it? I think so. Mr. Langdon is well again, & was perfectly jolly—bothered us & interrupted us all he could—& appeared to enjoy it.
[I begin to think that Livy’s letters are going to miscarry wofully on this trip—but I shall fix it as I go along. I have written her to write Cleveland & never mind the other places for the present]—& so you take care of them if any chance to arrive before I do. You say she writes well. I should think so. This paragraph from her letter received yesterday, so touches me with its simple pathos & so stirs my pity for the poor child, withal, that I feel like a monstrous sort of highwayman when I think of tearing her from the home which has so long been her little world, her shelter, her refuge:
“I think that you must have scared me a little, yesterday, talking about the home in Cleveland, because to-day I have been feeling sad at the thought of ever leaving this home of mine, ever going out from among those who have always made a part of my life. To think of having them grow used to my being absent from them, so that ]at last they would cease to miss me, [ made me feel as if I wanted father to put his arms about me & keep me near him always ] —always.”
It is one’s heart that writes, Madam—mere art could never teach [any one ]to put words together like that. Further [along,] she says: “He said last night that if he could live as long as I did, he would never let any man take me away from him; & he said that when I left home he was going to sell out—he is good [at making threats.” ]
[That girl is one in a [million.] She is fearfully & wonderfully made. Do [you] know her superior anywhere?]
[My dear good mother, she read me your letter to Mrs. Langdon & re-read & dwelt with particular delight upon the passage wherein you speak of placing full confidence in me—told her mother that that was just what she ought to [do.1 And ]I believe she does—& ] [it is all owing to your cordial, whole-hearted endorsement of me, my loved & honored mother—& for that, & for your whole saving letter, I shall be always, [always] grateful to you.] [And when I prove unworthy of the service you have done me in this matter, & the generous trust you have placed in me, even in the slightest degree, I shall be glad to know that that day is the last appointed me to live. There is no way in which I shall not prove your judgment perfect.] [Across the wastes of frozen snow that lie between us, mother, I waft a filial kiss so warm that such idle citizens as be abroad this night shall think the Spirit of the South Wind went by. [Amen. And ] [that] is honest.]
Write to Livy, please. I guess she don’t owe you a letter. And maybe she does, too. Sometime ago I shamed her so about not answering your letter to her about our contemplated visit, that she verily thought she had committed something akin to high treason. She was going to hurry off [& ]write at once—but I saw that what I had said had distressed her so, that I stopped her & told her it was only talk—[& that ]her mother’s letter was sufficient. I didn’t exactly think so, but then the girl was in so much trouble, how could I do otherwise? And so maybe she didn’t write.2 Writing is a great labor to her, & the close application it requires taxes her strength—but I will tell her to skip me, for once, & [write you.]
[About this [time ](past midnight, & so,] [Christmas is here,) eighteen ]hundred [& sixty nine ]years [ago,] the stars were shedding a purer lustre above the barren hills of [Bethlehem—& ]possibly flowers were being charmed to life in the dismal plain where the [Shepherds ]watched their [flocks—& hovering ]angels were [singing Peace ]on earth, [goodwill to men. For the Savior ]was come.] [Don’t you naturally [turn, in fancy, now,] to ] [that crumbling [wall ] [& its venerable olives, & to ]the mouldy domes [& turrets ] ]of [Bethlehem]? And don’t you picture it all out in your mind as we saw it many months ago? And don’t the picture mellow in the distance [& take ]to itself again the soft, unreal [semblance ]that [Poetry & ]Tradition give to the things they hallow? [And ]now that the greasy [monks, & ]the noisy mob, [& the ]leprous beggars are gone, [& all ]the [harsh,] cold hardness of [real] stone [& ]unsentimental glare of sunlight are banished from the vision, don’t you [realize again,] as in other years, that Jesus was born [there, & ]that the angels did sing in the still air [above, & ]that the wondering [Shepherds ] did hold their breath [& ]listen as the mysterious music floated by? I do. It is more real than [ever. And ]I am glad, a hundred times glad, that I saw Bethlehem, though at the time it seemed that that sight had swept away forever, every pleasant fancy [& ]every cherished memory that ever the City [of the Nativity [had ]stored away in my mind [& ] [heart.] ]
[Please give my love to Mollie,3 & to Old Mr. Fairbanks, & to all the family. I am coming. When you write our most excellent & well-beloved Mrs. Mason, please say to her that I warned you to ORGANIZE! against my coming. I guess she’ll understand. I have just written her to-day.
Good-bye. Peace unto your household—& a very happy Christmas.
Your promising scrub,]
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
In looking at your letter I find it dated Aug.
20th— Who would have
thought that so long a time would elapse after the
rec’pt of it, before I should send you one word
(directly) of thanks for your heartily expressed wish that I
should visit you? If shame would set me free from blame
worthiness, I should be free, for I am ashamed that in
appearence you should have been so long neglected—
(CtHMTH)
Source text(s):| P1 | “Mark Twain,” Cleveland Herald, 16 Jan 69, 4 |
| P2 | Sotheby, lot 5 |
| P3 | Sotheby Parke Bernet 1976, lot 42 |
| P4 | Handwritten transcript (complete, CU-MARK) made by Dixon Wecter from a TS of the MS |
Previous publication:
L2, 348–351; MTMF, 57–60; see also Copy-text.
Provenance:The MS was almost certainly owned by Thomas Nast Fairbanks, possibly until
1932; its subsequent and current owners are unknown.
Emendations, adopted readings, and textual notes:
A photofacsimile of MS page 4 published in Sotheby Parke Bernet 1976 (illustration for lot 42), ‘at . . . anywhere?’ (349.17–26), is copy-text for that portion of the letter. The remainder is based on one complete and three partial transcriptions, all deriving independently but at different removes from the original MS, which has not been found.
Collation shows that they are in approximately the following relation to the MS:
P1 is a substantially accurate version of the letter’s ninth paragraph (‘About . . . heart.’, 350.13–32) contained in a newspaper article promoting Clemens’s second lecture appearance in Cleveland, on 22 January 1869. Clemens himself revised (and perhaps recopied) the passage for publication (see pp. 365–66, 367 n.5).
P2 and P3, the 1932 Sotheby and the 1976 Sotheby Parke Bernet catalogs, indicate that the MS has probably survived intact to this day. The catalog description in P3 reads:
The description in P2 is briefer and makes no mention of the morocco case. Both catalogs publish extracts from the manuscript: P2 publishes the dateline and the signature, ‘Mark,’ and quotes about six sentences from the body of the letter. P3 provides longer excerpts from the letter, as well as the photofacsimile of MS page 4.
P4, Wecter’s transcription, was based on “a copy [probably a TS] of the original in the possession of Mr. Thomas Nast Fairbanks.” Wecter further explained, “The manuscript was offered for sale by Sotheby’s on June 27, 1932; its present whereabouts cannot be ascertained” (MTMF, 55 n. 1). P4 is the only substantially complete transcript of the letter.
Like many catalogs, P3 used italic type for text quoted from MS (except for the dateline and signature), a convention silently normalized here.
Lansing, Mich., Dec. 24 • [not in] (P1); Lansing, Mich., Dec. 24 [1868] (P2); Lansing, Mich.Λ Dec. 24 [1868] (P3); Lansing, Mich., Dec. 24 [1868] (P4)
Dear Mother—(P4) • [not in] (P1); his Mother (P2); Dear Mother—Λ (P3)
& (P4) • and (P2)
2.— • 2.— (P2); 2— (P4); [not in] (P1,3) [The P2 reading has been partly adopted here because P2 was presumably copied directly from the MS, but cancellation of the period has been emended in to conform with Clemens’s usual practice.]
[¶] Don’t . . . that (P4) • [not in] (P1–3)
& • and (P4) [MS facsimile is copy-text for ‘at . . . anywhere?’ (349.17–26)]
[¶] I . . . present. (P2,4) • [not in] (P1,3)
made . . . always (MS facsimile) • made . . . always (P4)
any one (MS facsimile) • anyone (P4)
along, (MS facsimile) • alongΛ (P4)
at . . . threats.” (MS facsimile, P4) • [not in] (P1–3)
[¶] That . . . anywhere? (MS facsimile, P2–4) • [not in] (P1)
million. (MS facsimile, P3,4) • million, (P2)
you (MS facsimile, P4) • You (P2); you (P3)
My . . . does—& (P4) • [not in] (P1–3)
do. And • do.—And (P4) [It is likely that the Thomas Nast Fairbanks TS Wecter transcribed included an end-of-line dash here, which Wecter dutifully copied (see also the emendation below for 350.1). For the rationale for emending out these dashes, see Guide to Editorial Practice, p. 498]
it . . . you. (P3,4) • [not in] (P1,2)
always (P4) • always (P3)
And . . . perfect. (P4) • [not in] (P1–3)
Across . . . honest. (P3,4) • [not in] (P1,2)
Amen. And (P3) • Amen.—And (P4)
that (P4) • that (P3)
& • and (P4)
& that • and that (P4)
Write . . . you. (P4) • [not in] (P1–3)
[¶] About . . . so, (P3,4) • [not in] (P1,2)
time (P3) • time, (P4)
Christmas is here,) eighteen (P3) • Christmas is hereΛ) eighteen (P4); [¶] “[Christmas is here—eighteen (P1)
Christmas . . . come. (P1,3,4) • [not in] (P2)
& sixty nine (P3,4) • and sixty-nine (P1
ago, (P3,4) • agoΛ (P1)
Bethlehem—& (P3,4) • Bethleham, and (P1)
Shepherds (P3,4) • shepherds (P1)
flocks—& hovering (P3) • flocks—& the hovering (P4); flocks, and the hovering (P1)
singing Peace (P3,4) • singing, peace (P1)
goodwill to men. For the Savior (P3) • good will to men—for the Savior (P1); good-will to men. For the Saviour (P4)
Don’t . . . to (P1,4) • [not in] (P2,3)
turn, in fancy, now, (P4) • turnΛ in fancyΛ nowΛ (P1)
that . . . turrets (P1,2,4) • [not in] (P3)
wall (P1,4) • walls (P2)
& its . . . & to (P2,4) • and its . . . and to (P1)
& turrets (P4) • and turrets (P1); & turrets. (P2)
Bethlehem (P4) • Bethleham (P1)
& take (P4) • and take (P1)
semblance (P4) • resemblance (P1)
Poetry & (P4) • poetry and (P1)
And (P4) • [¶] And (P1)
monks, & (P4) • monks and (P1)
& the (P4) • and the (P1)
& all (P4) • and all (P1)
harsh, (P4) • harshΛ (P1)
real (P4) • real (P1)
& (P4) • and (P1)
realize again, (P4) • realize (P1)
there, & (P4) • there, and (P1)
above, & (P4) • above, and (P1)
Shepherds (P4) • shepherds (P1)
& (P4) • and (P1)
ever. And (P4) • ever, and (P1)
& (P4) • and (P1)
of . . . heart. (P1,4) • [not in] (P2,3)
had (P4) • had ever (P1)
& (P4) • and (P1)
heart. (P4) • heart.” (P1)
[¶] Please . . . scrub, (P4) • [not in] (P1–3)
Mark. (P4) • [not in] (P1); Mark, (P2);Λ (P3)
