16 March 1872–28 May 1872 • Elmira, N.Y. (MS: Howland, UCCL 08200)
one-third of MS page (between 5 and 24 words) missing 1explanatory note
pit—splendid is the word. But I never have seen him on the platform at all—never have heard him lecture.
Our people all like his lecturing; but you asked for my opinion, individually, & so I have to confess ignorance.2explanatory note
All that survives of this letter is the bottom portion of a leaf, inscribed on one side. If the original letter consisted of this single sheet, then only the dateline and salutation (perhaps five words) and a line or two of text (up to about ten words) may be missing. If, however, the letter ran to several pages, then twenty-four words or so may be missing from this side of the sheet, in addition to any preceding pages. The letter’s contents suggest that it was written from Elmira (see the next note). In addition, it is on stationery found in only four other letters, all written from Elmira between 27 March and 17 May 1872.
The letter seems to be a response to a query about the Reverend Thomas K. Beecher’s lecturing ability. “Our people” presumably refers to the Langdon and Crane households. Beecher’s Sunday evening sermons in the Elmira Opera House and his occasional lectures elsewhere had achieved some celebrity since 1868, and he would lecture for the Boston Lyceum Bureau in the 1872–73 season. On 24 March he lectured about the 1872 presidential election in the Opera House ( L3 , 57 n. 9; Elmira Advertiser: “City and Neighborhood,” 4 Feb 70, 4; “Our Seven Churches,” 19 Oct 70, 4; “Mr. Beecher for President,” 25 Mar 72, 4; “Opera House Meetings,” Elmira Saturday Evening Review, 5 Feb 70, 4; (3 Mar 72 to Redpath, n. 4click to open link).
MS, collection of David Howland. The upper portion of the MS page has been torn away. The extant portion is one leaf (torn from a folder) of white laid paper, ruled in blue, measuring 5 by 5 ⅜ inches. A portion of the watermark (“& Sons
71”) is visible, which clearly identifies the stationery as that used by Clemens in four letters written from Elmira between 27 March and 17 May 1872.
L5 , 57–58.
The MS descended to Howland from his paternal grandfather, Judge Henry Elias Howland (1835–1913), an acquaintance of Clemens’s in the 1890s and later, who acquired it under unknown circumstances (see HHR , 139, 464–66).
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.