1Clemens was working on The Prince and the Pauper, which he had begun in September, and on his novel Simon Wheeler, Detective (12 Nov 1877 to Nast, n. 4; 17? Nov 1877 to Aldrich, n. 1). Since there is no evidence to suggest that he considered either book to be “interminable,” his comment may have been a polite excuse for declining the club’s invitation. The date assigned to this letter is highly conjectural. It is based largely on the fact that on 28 December Clemens told Howells that he had not “done a stroke of work since the Atlantic dinner” (on 17 December). He could have written to the Union Veteran Club earlier in December, or very early in January 1878.

2

The Chicago Tribune of 6 January 1878 published this letter with the following introduction:

The Chicago Union Veteran Club was formally constituted on 13 December 1876, and by the spring of 1878 its membership had grown to over three hundred and fifty men. On 17 October 1877 the club appointed a committee to arrange for lectures at its meetings (Chicago Tribune: “Chicago,” 14 Dec 1876, 2; “Ward Meetings,” 18 Oct 1877, 8; “Gen. Shields,” 12 May 1878, 5).