20 January 1877 • Hartford, Conn. (Middletown [Conn.] Constitution, 31 January 1877, and two others, UCCL 13184)
IⒶemendation have examined the wonderful watch made by M. Matile, & indeedⒶemendation it comes nearer to being a human being than any piece of mechanism I ever saw before.1explanatory note In fact,Ⓐemendation it knows considerably more than the average voter. It knows the movements of the moon & keeps exact record of them; it tells the dayⒶemendation of the week, the date of the monthⒶemendation & the month of the year, & will do this perpetually; it tells the hour of the day & the minute & the second, & even splits the seconds into fifths & marks the divisions by “stop”Ⓐemendation hands; having two stop hands, it can take accurate care of two race horses that start, not together, but one after the other; it is a repeater whereinⒶemendation the voter is suggested again,Ⓐemendation & musically chimes the hour, the quarter, the half, the three-quarter hour, & also the minutes that have passed of an uncompletedⒶemendation quarter hour2explanatory note—so that a blind man can tell the timeⒶemendation of day by it to the exact minute
SuchⒶemendation is this extraordinary watch. It ciphers to admiration;Ⓐemendation I should think one could add another wheel & make it read & write; still another & make it talk; & I think one might take out several of the wheels that are already in it &Ⓐemendation it would still be a more intelligent citizen than some that help to govern the country.Ⓐemendation On the whole I think it is entitled to vote—Ⓐemendationthat is if its sex is the right kind.Ⓐemendation
Henri Louis Matile was a watchmaker of Locle, Switzerland. His complicated and highly accurate timepiece took two years to construct, and attracted American attention when it was exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The circumstances under which Clemens came to examine it were related in the Stamford (Conn.) Advocate, which cited a New Haven newspaper:
The mention of an elegant watch of complicated workmanship, noticed in the Journal and Courier several weeks ago, attracted the attention of the great American, P. T. Barnum, who thereupon bethought him to write to his friend Mark Twain, calling his attention to the remarkable timepiece. The curiosity of the author and humorist being awakened, a note was dispatched to Mr. Ford, and in a short time Mr. Clemens had the privilege of gazing upon the treasure at his leisure at his remarkable mansion in Hartford. (“An Intelligent Watch,” 2 Feb 1877, 2)
No such letter from Barnum to Clemens has been found. George H. Ford was a New Haven jeweler (“A Wonderful Watch,” Scientific American 36 [2 June 1877]: 342; Wilson 1880, 246–47). The inspection seems to have inspired Clemens with a desire for a similarly versatile, but less splendid, gold watch (see 6 Aug 1877 to Conway).
All variants between the source texts are reported here. The readings identified by the siglum ‘MTP’ are editorial emendations of the source readings made because none is deemed correct by itself.
The Hartford Evening Post not being extant, this text is based on three of the earliest reprintings found, each of which presumably reprints the Post:
McWilliams 1997, 70–71, reprinting the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of 9 February 1877.