11 November 1879 • 1st of 2 • Chicago, Ill. (MS, in pencil: Christie’s, New York, December 1991, UCCL 01712)
Livy darling, George & I walked over 76 miles, yesterday, round about the town, & inspecting the outsides of beautiful dw & costly dwellings, & the water-works machinery, the fair decor street-decorations for the Grant reception, & so forth, & had a good time. He went west last night, & I went to three theatres with a lot of newspaper men; staid but a few minutes at two of them, but saw a whole act at the third. It was the first act of Pineafore, admirably done by children—little children, like ours. The characters were most excellently taken—it was a marvel to see it. The singing was quite often delightful.
I was home & in bed at 9 10 o’clock. Drank 11 gallons of Appolinaris water & 1 glass of lager during the evening; drank one Scotch whisky in bed, read 2 hours, & went to sleep without needing the other punch.
Mrs. S. L. Clemens | Hartford, | Conn return address, ‘10’ circled in pencil: if not delivered within 10 days, to be returned to postmarked: chicago ill. nov 11 2pm and hartford conn. rec’d. nov 13 11a.m.
docketed by Olivia L. Clemens: Nov. 11/——
MS, in pencil, seen at Christie’s, New York, while awaiting sale in December 1991.
Davis 1977, 4; Christie’s catalog, 5 December 1991, lot 192, partial publication.
Chester L. Davis, Sr., probably acquired the MS from Clara Clemens Samossoud sometime between 1949 and 1962 (see Samossoud Collection in Description of Provenanceclick to open link). After his death in 1987, the MS was owned by Chester L. Davis, Jr., who sold it through Christie's in December 1991.