1 “Mark Twain thus concludes a business letter to his agent in this city:” was the Boston Globe’s lead-in to this fragment, published on 29 June. On 18 June, the Boston correspondent of the Hartford Courant had reported that “Mr. Redpath has begun to make up his list of lectures for the winter” (Templeton, 1). It is likely, therefore, that around early June Redpath inquired if Clemens wished to lecture during the 1874–75 season, and that in the business portion of the present letter Clemens declined. He might have written between 10 and 15 June, when he announced Clara’s birth in letters to family and friends.