1 Clemens wrote this sentiment in one of his Self-Pasting Scrapbooks, apparently a gift to Elinor Howells (11 Sept? 1876 to Slote, n. 1). She later used it to preserve various clippings, a poem by her daughter, Winifred, and proofsheets of an unpublished article by her husband, with his corrections. The date and occasion for the gift have not been discovered. The dates assigned to this letter are the first—and perhaps only—days in 1877 when Clemens is thought to have seen Elinor Howells. Their meeting occurred while the Howellses were staying with Charles and Susan Warner, in the Nook Farm neighborhood in Hartford. Elinor Howells saw Clemens on the evening of 25 October, and again the following evening, when all three couples dined together at the Warners’ before attending a reception for Yung Wing and his wife, hosted by Clemens and Olivia (Elinor Howells to William Rutherford Mead, 26 Oct 1877, MA; Twichell 1874–1916, entry for 26 Oct 1877; for Yung Wing see AutoMT1, 72–73, 477–79).