To William M. Clemens
16 January 1881 • Hartford, Conn.
(Clemens 1894, p. 12, and sales catalog:
American Art Association, 14 and 15 May 1914, lot 236,
UCCL 01893)
How can I advise another man wisely, out of such a capital as a life filled with mistakes? Advise him how to avoid the like? No—for opportunities to make the same mistakes do not happen to any two men. Your own experiences may possibly teach you, but another man’s can’t. I do not know anything for a person to do but just peg along, doing the things that offer, [&] regretting them the next day. It is my way [&] everybody’s.
Truly yours,
Textual Commentary
Source text(s):| P1 | Clemens 1894, 12; includes the entire letter. |
| P2 | American Art Association catalog, 14 and 15 May 1914, lot 236; includes the body of the letter, with a reported dateline but no greeting, salutation, or signature. |
Previous publication:
Clemens 1882, 20, and the source texts. The 1882 printing contains no distinctly authorial variants and therefore cannot be assumed to derive independently from the MS.
Provenance:
The MS was offered for sale in 1914 from the collection of the Reverend Thomas R. Slicer. Its present whereabouts are unknown.
Emendations, adopted readings, and textual notes:
All variants between the source texts are reported here. The readings identified by the siglum ‘MTP’ are editorial emendations of the source readings made because none is deemed correct by itself.
Jan. 16. (MTP) • Jan. 16, 1881. (P1); January 16, [1881] [reported, not quoted] (P2)
My Dear Boy (MTP) • My Dear Boy (P1)
& (MTP) • and (P1, P2)
& (MTP) • and (P1, P2)
Clemens (MTP) • Clemens (P1)
