2 February 1873 • New York, N.Y. (MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 00872)
No. 2.1explanatory note
It is a good long time since the 2d of February2explanatory note became more to me than other days—a good long time since it became set apart in the calendar as the high chief day of the 365; & I think that if our mutual satisfaction in it & in the momentous fact it keeps in remembrance continues to grow as it has grown since 1870, we shall by & by become not merely the lovingest couple in the land but the happiest. I think our gales of happiness, with lulls of depression between, are quieting down day by day, & will presently be resolved into a calm great deep of love & peace, untouched by any ruffling breeze, & unshadowed by any vagrant passing cloud.
I am keeping the great anniversary in the solitude of the hotel; & not boisterously, for th Ⓐemendation last night’s whirlwindⒶemendation of excitement has swept the all spirit out of me & I am as dull & lifeless as if h I had just come waked out of a long, stupefying sleep.
I find that the Tribune review of Roughing It was written by the profound old stick who has done all the Tribune reviews for the last 90 years. The idea of setting such an oyster as that to prating about Humor! This is “journalism.” They would think me absurd if I s were to suggest that they hire Josh Billings3explanatory note to write a critique on the Iliad, but it does not occur to them that he is as thoroughly competent to do it as is thsis old Tribune fool to criticise a book of humor.4explanatory note What a curious idea it is to have only one book reviewer connected with a great newspaper. It would be just as consistent to hire a clerk to keep their books, write their editorials, cook their food & do their washing. No man has an appreciation so various that his judgment is good upon all varieties of literary work. If they were to set me to review Mrs. Browning, it would be like asking you to deliver judgment upon the merits of a box of cigars:5explanatory note to you, one or two whiffs of the aroma would be the utmost that your senses could enjoy, but there are millions of better qualified persons who would know that the whole box brimmed with delight. I will preach a small discourse upon this absurdity o◇ oneⒶemendation of these days.
I would just as soon see you & the Muggins as not. In fact I would walk a good long way to see you & the Muggins, although you are both constantly in my mind & heart, & that is having you pretty near neighbors. I love you both, ever, ever, every so much.
Love to Ma & Annie.6explanatory note
If a 2 Tribunes comes with the “ God GoldⒶemendation Medal” letter in them, cut them out & mail one to the Glasgow Herald, Scotland & the other to G. Fitz Gibbon, i Wellesley Terrace, u Upper street. Islington, London, England.7explanatory note
Mrs. Samℓ. L. Clemens | Hartford | Conn return address: if not delivered within 10 days to be returned to postmarked: mailed st. nicholas hotel, feb 2 ◇◇◇◇ Ⓐemendation and new york feb 2
This is evidently the second of two letters Clemens wrote to his wife from New York on 1 or 2 February, the first of which is not known to survive.
The Clemenses’ wedding anniversary.
Henry Wheeler Shaw.
The Tribune review of Roughing It appeared on 31 January. Clemens had no doubt learned from Hay at the Lotos Club dinner that he had not been asked to review it, as Clemens had requested, and that Reid had assigned George Ripley instead (12 Jan 73 to Hay, n. 1click to open link). Ripley offered little serious criticism, but instead quoted liberally from the book, concluding that it “may be regarded as one of the most racy specimens of Mark Twain’s savory pleasantries” (Ripley, 6).
Olivia’s fondness for Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry, which Clemens considered “marvelous ravings,” was a running joke ( L3 , 95; see also L3 , 26, 241; L4 , 72).
Jane Clemens and Annie Moffett had begun their visit on 22 January (22 Jan 73 to PAMclick to open link).
Clemens was unsuccessful in arranging for the reprinting of “British Benevolence” in the Darlington (England) Northern Echo, which employed his friend Fitzgibbon, or in the Glasgow Herald. His contact on the Herald may have been William Jack (b. 1834), the editor from 1870 to 1875, who was also a fellow of St. Peter’s College, Cambridge (1859–71), and a professor of natural philosophy at Owen’s College, Manchester (1866–70) (BBA, s.v. “Jack, William”). No association between Jack and Clemens has been documented, however.
MS, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (CU-MARK).
L5 , 293–294; MFMT , 47, excerpt; LLMT , 363, brief paraphrase.
see Samossoud Collection in Description of Provenance.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.