farmington avenue, hartford.
July 13.
My Dear Harte:
Drop me a line on some subject or other—I want it for the autographic collection of the his Reverence the Chancellor of Christ Church ‸Cathedral‸ Dublin, who is a mighty good fellow—for a Christian.1 If you need a text, tell me if I can publish a story in a London magazine, 8 months before it appears here, without impairing my American [copyright] You may possibly know, but I swear I don’t.2 Just finished writing the book to-day (900 pages MS.,) but can’t print now, because I have a book going through the press at this time.3 With kind regards to Mrs. Harte,4
Yrs Ever
Mark.
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
The Reverend Canon Charles Edward Tisdall (1822?–1905) was born in Dublin and received his academic
degrees at Trinity College. In 1847 he was ordained a priest, and in 1863 assumed his position at Christ Church Cathedral, serving as
chancellor until his death (Leslie). John Chippendall Montesquieu Bellew (1823–74) was a noted elocutionist and orator who
hosted a dinner for Clemens at the Langham Hotel in London in June 1873. The two men had met that May on board the Batavia en route from New York to Liverpool (Thompson, 82, 85).
Charlotte Saunders Cushman (1816–76) was the most highly regarded dramatic actress of her day. In a letter of 3 March
1880, Tisdall recalled Clemens’s sending one of the requested autographs, probably Harte’s, and also asked for
another charitable contribution, in aid of a destitute Dublin stage manager. In a note on the envelope, Clemens characterized Tisdall
as “a man of perfectly indestructible cheek,” one of several London acquaintances who had done nothing
“but beg favors of me which would make a brazen image blush” (CU-MARK).
Source text(s):
Previous publication:
L6, 507–509.
Emendations and textual notes:
copyright • copy-|right