July? 1871 • Elmira, N.Y. (CU-MARK, UCCL 10651)
I only make them at funerals & places where IⒶemendation wish to s feel sad.1explanatory note
This letter has been dated on the basis of the paper, ink, and handwriting, which are similar to those in the next letter. Accompanying it is the following explanation by H. M. Reynolds of Glendale, California, dated 18 June 1929:
In the early seventies I had the autograph craze badly and secured many from men and women of national reputation. My cousin Pierre Reynolds was collecting at same time, and those that he secured later came to me. Pierre wrote to Mr Clemens asking that he make a pun for him. This is the reply. Along about 1910, for some reason I had taken the autograph to the store, and left it there in a desk drawer for some little time. While there a wandering rat one night located it and chewed a while on it, luckily damaging one corner only.
MS, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (CU-MARK). The lower right corner of the MS page, probably cut from a larger sheet, is missing, reportedly having been eaten by a rat (see p. 427, n. 1 top).
L4 , 426–427.
see Tufts Collection in Description of Provenance.