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Author (Mark Twain) Samuel L. Clemens Autograph L

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:15,000.00 - 18,000.00 USD
Author (Mark Twain) Samuel L. Clemens Autograph L
<B>Author (Mark Twain) Samuel L. Clemens Autograph Letter Signed</B></I> Signed, "S. L. Clemens," one page, 5.5" x 9". Riverdale, New York, January 10, 1903. The creator of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn writes to an unnamed correspondent, identified in a 1983 letter by Robert H. Hirst, General Editor, Mark Twain Project, University of California, Berkeley, as Boston lawyer Frederick W. Peabody. In full: "But aren't you going to lend me those scraps & scribblings of Mrs. Eddy's which you offered to lend me? I find I can't buy such things. I have tried; the Bargain Counter will not take my money -- imagines it is spiritual money, but it is not. Have I your permission to use your name in quoting your visit to the Holy of Holies of the Mother Church? I(n) what year was the visit paid?" Twain had been corresponding with Peabody about Christian Science for more than a month. From Hirst's letter: "Peabody, a devoted opponent of Christian Science, was providing Mark Twain with material for use in articles on the subject that he was contributing to the North American Review (two already had been published... and two were yet forthcoming... ). In mid-December he had offered to lend Mark Twain some extracts from the writing of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, an offer Mark Twain reminded him of here. These extracts were of particular importance to Mark Twain since, as he states, he had been rebuffed in his attempt to buy them from the agency he sarcastically calls 'the Bargain Counter,' actually the New York offices of the Christian Science Publication Committee." Peabody replied to Twain's letter two days later. Photocopies of Hirst's November 1, 1983, letter and Peabody's January 12, 1903 letter to Twain are present. Nailhead-size glue remnant at upper left corner. Horizontal folds at blank margins show minor separations. Slightly creased. Overall, fine condition. <I>Accompanied by COA from PSA/DNA.</B></I>