Elmira, June 20.
Dear Mr. Fairchild:
Would I go to a [farewell] feed whose object was to get rid of old Osgood, that majestic accumulation of iniquity? You bet you! By George I would walk to such a banquet rather than not miss it. But you see, I am anchored ‸here‸ for the summer, ◊ 510 miles from Boston, & so long a journey, in this weather, would kill me; so I have got to decline—not with simulated regret, but with the real article. Give my love to the Chief of Sinners, & to his disciples Howells & Aldrich.
Truly Yrs
S. L. Clemens.
I’ve mislaid your note & address, so I will send this through Howells. The article which I enclose is for the Contributor’s Club. Will you please ask Howells to return it to me if it is crowded out? of the The Christian Union wants it.
Textual Commentary
Source text(s):Previous publication:
Sotheby’s catalog, 29 October 1996, lot 234, partial publication (dated “ca. 1885”); MicroPUL, reel 2.
Provenance:
Victor and Irene Murr Jacobs bought the MS from Paul C. Richards in 1967 and it was sold at Sotheby’s in 1996.
Emendations and textual notes:
farewell • faare farewell [corrected miswriting]
