24? April 1876 • Hartford, Conn. (Transcript and paraphrase: Mollie Shoot to SLC,
9 May 1876, CU-MARK, UCCL 12957)
You will see by the enclosed programme that I have again made my appearance before the N. Y. public.2explanatory note For this I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Harkins, whose benifitⒶemendation it was, and who converted the character of a male servant into a maid, for me.3explanatory note
I saw in the “Herald” that you were a grand success as “Peter Spyk”. Pray accept my congratulations (though it is late in the day to offer them.)4explanatory note
I suppose you will be adopting the stage for a profession ere long?
I trust Mrs Clemens has recovered from her attack of “all the different kinds of ralgias”. No doubt you are tired of my asking so many favors of you & never returning any, but in the face of all this, I have one last and greatest of all favors to ask. If you could find time to go on a voyage of discovery through your house, and see if you can not find a spare photo of your self and wife for—
P. S. We were among the number who had to “take up our bed & walk” the first of May, so our present abode is—
#270 W. 42nd St.5explanatory note
Clemens’s mention of Olivia’s illness, which Shoot alluded to in her fourth paragraph, is all that now survives of his letter to her, which has been placed here as consistent with his recent assessment of his wife’s health (see 24 Apr 1876 to OC and MEC). Mary B. (Mollie) Shoot (1863?-1954), who had a long career as a character actress under the stage name Florence Wood, made her debut with the Augustin Daly theater company. According to her obituary, “She came to the troupe with a letter of introduction from Mark Twain, a neighbor and friend of her family in Hannibal, Mo., where she was born” (“Mrs. Felix Morris, A Former Actress,” New York Times, 19 Apr 1954, 23; see also Inds, 347-48). Clemens apparently had recommended Shoot to Daly in person, not by letter (see 19 Oct 1876 to Unidentified). Money (Lytton 1840) and Daly’s own melodrama, Pique (Daly 1875) (which had opened on 14 December 1875), were performed at Daly’s Fifth Avenue Theatre (Daly 1917, 207; “Amusements,” New York Times, 15 Dec 1875, 6, and 3 May 1876, 7). On the envelope of Shoot’s letter Clemens wrote:
My dramatic protège
Mollie Shoot (Florence Wood)
The source of the “enclosed programme” has not been identified. On it Shoot bracketed her own name and role in ink:
This Saturday Night, May 6th, for Mr. Harkins’ Benefit,
Will be acted, for the first time in this theatre (and for this occasion only), lord lytton bulwer’s 5-Act Comedy, entitled
MONEY
lord glossmore,.......mr. charles rockwell
sir john vesey,.....................mr. w. davidge
sir frederick blount,......mr. maurice barrymore
stout,.........................mr. john brougham
graves,.........................mr. charles fisher
alfred evelyn,.................mr. d. h. harkins
captain dudley smooth,......mr. john drew
sharp,..............................mr. w. beekman
joke,..................................mr. i. deveau
clara douglass,........miss georgiana drew
georgina vesey,............miss sidney cowell
susan,...................................miss f. wood
and
lady franklyn (for this occasion).....miss fanny davenport
the new scenes will be found in—
Act II. EVELYN’S HOUSE
(By Mr. James Roberts).
Act IV. PARLORS AT EVELYN’S.
(By Mr. C. W. Witham).
Next Week—Monday Evening and every Night (except Saturday),
PIQUE!
Being the 22nd Week and 159th to 165th PERFORMANCE
Paraphrase and transcript, Mary B. Shoot to SLC, 9 May 1876, CU-MARK, UCLC 32351.
See Mark Twain Papers in Description of Provenanceclick to open letter.