10 December 1872 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: NjP UCCL 00843)
As the best way of coming at it, I enclose my “mother Fairbanks’s” letter1explanatory note—the last page of it refers to you. We think the whole world of Mrs. Fairbanks (wife of proprietor of Cleveland Herald)—she was a pilgrim with me in the Innocents Abroad. Hr HerⒶemendation son Charley I have written you about, before, & you sent him an autograph from your pencil which set him up wonderfully. Now I think it a glorious thing to be a boy’s idol, for it is the only worship one can swear to, as genuine—& I have no doubt you feel a good dealⒶemendation as I do about it. Therefore I send Charley Fairbanks to you without distrust or fear2explanatory note—satisfied that the few minutes he robs you of will be an inspiration to him & will be transmitted in the works of his hands to the next generation—& just as well satisfied that you will place that loss, with little regret, along with many another like it, labeled, “Bread cast upon the Waters.”3explanatory note
Nast you, more than any other man, have won a prodigious victory for Grant—I mean, rather, for Civilization & progress;—those pictures were simply marvels; & if any man in the land has a right to hold his head & Ⓐemendation up & be honestly proud of his share in this year’s vast events that man is unquestionably yourself. We all do sincerely honor you & are proud of you.4explanatory note
Not extant.
After learning from Mary Mason Fairbanks in March that her son was an “ardent admirer” of Nast’s, Clemens had evidently written to Nast on his behalf (2? Mar 72 to Fairbanks, nn. 2, 3click to open link). Nast again replied graciously to this second plea (17 Dec 72 to Nast, n. 1click to open link).
Ecclesiastes 11:1.
In May 1872 Horace Greeley was nominated to run for president on the Liberal Republican ticket against Republican incumbent Ulysses S. Grant; in July he was endorsed by the Democratic party, whose policies he had long denounced. Nast took every opportunity to satirize Greeley’s personal eccentricity and political waywardness in his Harper’s Weekly cartoons, waging a “Campaign of Caricature” that was largely instrumental in securing Grant a second term in the 5 November election (Paine 1904, 220, 227–29, 235–39, 241–42, 246–64). Although Clemens’s remarks here clearly show his support of the Republican party and Grant, he avoided expressing his views in print during the campaign. He did, however, publish an anonymous humorous sketch in the Hartford Courant of 20 July—“The Secret of Dr. Livingstone’s Continued Voluntary Exile”—which concluded with a jibe at Greeley’s turncoat politics. In the sketch, the newly discovered Livingstone is given a summary of the news of the preceding five years, and decides to remain in Africa upon learning, to his disgust, that “Greeley is the democratic candidate for President of the United States, and all rebeldom hurrahs for him” (SLC 1872). Charles Dudley Warner gleefully accepted Clemens’s contribution, writing him on 19 July: “Thank you for that jolly drive on Horace. It’s first chop and will be printed tomorrow” (CU-MARK).
MS, Princeton University (NjP). Published with permission of the Princeton University Libraries. The MS is now accompanied by a red calling card bearing a photographic portrait of Mark Twain, published by the “Happy Hours Company” in 1872. The card was almost certainly not enclosed with the original letter, but furnished by a dealer or collector as an adornment.
L5 , 249–250; Paine 1904, 263, brief excerpt; Merwin-Clayton, lot 242, brief excerpt; MTB , 1:472, brief excerpt; MTL , 1:202, brief excerpt (misdated November 1872); Freeman, lot 103, brief paraphrase; MTMF , 169, with omission.
The MS was among the papers and drawings from Nast’s estate sold in April 1906 (Merwin-Clayton). It was sold again in 1932 as part of the collection of businessman William F. Gable (1856–1921) (Freeman). In 1961 James Rankin donated it to Princeton, where it is part of the Rankin Autograph Collection.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.