To Unidentified 20 January 1877 • Hartford, Conn.
(Middletown [Conn.] Constitution, 31 January 1877, and two others, UCCL 13184)
[I] have examined the wonderful watch made by M. Matile, [& indeed] it comes nearer to being a human being than any piece of mechanism I ever saw before.1 In [fact,] it knows considerably more than the average voter. It knows the movements of the moon & keeps exact record of them; it tells the [day] of the week, the date of the [month] & the month of the year, & will do this perpetually; it tells the hour of the day & the minute & the second, & even splits the seconds into fifths & marks the divisions by [“stop”] hands; having two stop hands, it can take accurate care of two race horses that start, not together, but one after the other; it is a repeater [wherein] the voter is suggested [again,] & musically chimes the hour, the quarter, the half, the three-quarter hour, & also the minutes that have passed of an [uncompleted] quarter hour2—so that a blind man can tell the [time] of day by it to the exact minute
[Such] is this extraordinary watch. It ciphers to [admiration;] I should think one could add another wheel & make it read & write; still another & make it talk; & I think one might take out several of the wheels that are already in [it &] it would still be a more intelligent citizen than some that help to govern the [country.] On the whole I think it is entitled to [vote—]that is if its sex is the right [kind.]
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
Henri Louis Matile was a watchmaker of Locle, Switzerland. His complicated and
highly accurate timepiece took two years to construct, and attracted American
attention when it was exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.
The circumstances under which Clemens came to examine it were related in the
Stamford (Conn.) Advocate, which cited a New Haven newspaper: The mention of an elegant watch of complicated workmanship, noticed in the
Journal and Courier several weeks ago, attracted the attention of the great American,
P. T. Barnum, who thereupon bethought him to write to his friend Mark Twain,
calling his attention to the remarkable timepiece. The curiosity of the author and
humorist being awakened, a note was dispatched to Mr. Ford, and in a short time
Mr. Clemens had the privilege of gazing upon the treasure at his leisure at his
remarkable mansion in Hartford. (“An Intelligent Watch,” 2 Feb 1877, 2) No such letter from Barnum to Clemens has been found. George H. Ford was a
New Haven jeweler (“A Wonderful Watch,” Scientific American 36 [2 June 1877]: 342;
Wilson 1880, 246–47). The inspection seems to have inspired Clemens with a desire
for a similarly versatile, but less splendid, gold watch (see 6 Aug 1877 to Conway).
Source text(s):| P1 | “An Intelligent Watch,” Middletown (Conn.) Constitution, 31 January 1877, 2 |
| P2 | “Show This to Helen’s Babies,” New York Graphic, 27 January 1877, 599 |
| P3 | “An Intelligent Watch,” Stamford (Conn.) Advocate, 2 February 1877, 2 |
Previous publication:
McWilliams 1997, 70–71, reprinting the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of 9 February 1877.
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.
Hartford, Jan. 20. (MTP) • “Hartford, Jan. 20, 1876” (P1); [not in] (P2); [dateline emended to Clemens’s usual form; as to the disparity of dates in the newspaper reprints, it seems probable that the compositor of P1 blundered, setting ‘1876’ for ‘1877’, a common mistake in January] (P3)
I (MTP) • “~ (P1, P2, P3)
& indeed (MTP) • and indeed (P1, P3); and, indeed, (P2)
fact, (P1, P3) • ~‸ (P2)
day (P2, P3) • days (P1)
month (P1, P3) • ~, (P2)
“stop” (MTP) • ‘~’ (P!, P2, P3)
wherein (P1, P2) • (~ (P3)
again, (P1) • ~‸ (P2); ~) (P3)
uncompleted (P1, P2) • unoccupied (P3)
time (P1, P2) • exact time (P3)
[¶] Such (MTP) • [¶] “Such (P1, P3); [no ¶] Such (P2)
admiration; (P1, P3) • ~. (P2)
it & (MTP) • it and (P1, P2); it; and (P3)
country. (P1, P2) • ~‸ (P3)
vote— (P2, P3) • ~‸ (P1)
kind. (MTP) • kind.”—Post (P1); kind.” (P2, P3)
