To William Dean Howells
21 December 1874 • Hartford, Conn.
(MS: TxDaM-P, UCCL 01098)

Dec. 21.

My Dear Howells:1

Oh, come, now, I won’t stand this! The only reason why I didn’t write & ask Aldrich to abide with me was because Ponkapog had slipped my memory & I supposed he was living in town & Mrs. Aldrich would scalp me if I tried to beguile him. I was half afraid to approach you, comprehending the desperate nature of Mrs. Howells when roused.

Oh, no, this will never, never, never do. It was [ I ] that sent down to the clerk’s office for those rooms—not you. Let me have my way just this once, & next time I will let you have yours. I entirely looked upon the Aldrich as my guest.2

I’ll add the incident when proof comes.3

No, indeed, we’ll leave for N. O., Feb. 15. That is the idea.

Yrs Ever

Mark.

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

Editorial Signs

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1 Clemens replied to the following letter, which answered his of 18 December (CU-MARK):

UCLC32081

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Howells used the term “dead-heads” for nonpaying subscribers (see 2 Sept 74 to Howells, n. 4).

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2 Presumably Clemens enclosed the three dollars Howells had sent on 19 December.

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3 For the outcome of this proposal see 15 Dec 75 to Howells.

Description of Texts and Provenance

Source text(s):

MS facsimile. The editors have not seen the MS, which is in the Dan Ferguson Collection, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas (TxDaM-P).

Previous publication: L6, 326–27; Anderson, Gibson, and Smith, 39–40.

Provenance:Ferguson (1891–1963), a Dallas attorney who worked for the Magnolia Petroleum Company, donated his collection in 1956.

Emendations and textual notes:

I • I I [corrected miswriting]