4 January 1874 • (2nd of 2) • London, England (MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 01030)
Livy darling, Stoddard & I dined at Dolby’s tonight.1explanatory note Beside his family,2explanatory note two friends of his were there, white-haired gentlemen 60 years old. One was Dolby’s brother-in-law, Monsieur Sainton, a Frenchman; the other was a Mr. Herr Luder, a Prussian. They were good natured old fellows, but now & then they would get to abusing each other roundly. However, as it didn’t seem to disturb Dolby or his wife in the least, I gradually came to take it as a matter of course myself. By Ⓐemendation & by Dolby told us their history. When Herr Luder was 25 years old, he was a famous pianist,—pianist to the king of Prussia. He happened upon Sainton, 25 years of age also, & at that time becoming an accomplished violinist, but a stranger in a strange land3explanatory note & very poor. Luder said “I will get you an opportunity to play before the king”—which he did. The king gave him a gratuity, & he was enabled to live along for a while. But Ⓐemendation by & by he disappeared. Luder hunted him up; found him in bed in a mean lodging—for his clothes were now too ragged to appear in in daylight. H Luder asked what was the matter. Sainton said he was sick. Luder Ⓐemendation said, “Is it not that you are not sick, p but poor?” Sainton confessed. Luder said, “Here is quite a sum of money; you have great talent; take this & give concerts & make a fortune; it is all the money I have; if you succeed, you will pay it back to me if you are a gentleman; if you do not succeed, or if you are a bad man,—no matter, I will not reproach myself for the loss.”
Sainton succeeded; became rich & famous; returned & hunted up Luder; found him poor & his fame as a pianist waning fast. He paid him back his money, took him into his house as one of the family, & there he has remained every day from that day to this—five-&-thirty years!4explanatory note
When the Franco-Prussian war was going on,5explanatory note Dolby says it was something gorgeous to see those two old men get into a frenzy & blackguard & abuse each other like fishwomen till they were exhausted, & then kiss as fondly as two children & go off to bed.
We had a rattling good time at Dolby’s tonight, & I hope we can have Mrs. Dolby in our house some day—she is a fine woman. Dolby Ⓐemendation thinks that the reason Clara6explanatory note is restless & uncheerful is because she is pining for him!
I love you my dear old sweetheart.
Mrs. Samℓ. L. Clemens | Hartford | Conn. in upper left corner: America. | flourish on flap: slc postmarked: london Ⓐemendation • w i ja 5 74 and new york jan 17 paid all Ⓐemendation
Dolby wrote on 4 January (ViU):
At the bottom of the letter Stoddard noted, “Dramatic Agent who brought Chas Dickens to America.”
Dolby and his wife, daughter of William Moss, had at least two children: George Charles, born in early 1868 (while Dolby was on tour in America with Dickens), and a daughter about three years older (Pearson, 179, 182–84; Dolby, 238, 291–92).
Exodus 2:22, a verse that both Clemens and his wife quoted or alluded to on occasion (see 4 Feb 74 to Beachclick to open link, L2 , 236, and L4 , 96).
Prosper Philippe Sainton (1813–90) was born in Toulouse and studied violin at the Paris conservatory. He toured Europe in the late 1830s before accepting a post as professor of the violin at the Toulouse conservatory in 1840. In 1845 he settled in London, where he taught at the Royal Academy of Music until his death. In 1860 he married Dolby’s sister, Charlotte Helen Dolby (1821–85), the most highly acclaimed contralto in England from 1847 until her retirement in 1870. In 1872 she opened a school for vocalists in London. The “king of Prussia” in 1838, when Sainton was twenty-five years old, was Friedrich Wilhelm III (1770–1840). Herr Luder has not been identified.
Prussia defeated France in the war that began on 19 July 1870 and ended with the Treaty of Frankfurt, ratified on 21 May 1871.
Clara Spaulding, a close friend of Olivia’s who had accompanied the Clemenses on their 1873 travels in England, Scotland, and Ireland ( L5 , 237 n. 3).
MS, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (CU-MARK).
L6 , 8–9.
see Samossoud Collection in Description of Provenance.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.