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Rare Look at Mark Twain

on June 12, 2010 – 9:00 am

A rare picture of not only Mark Twain, the well-known rowdy and often bawdy humorist, but also Samuel Langhorne Clemens, the devoted husband and father is visible through the almost 200 items to be auctioned by Sotheby’s for The James S. Copley Library.

Clemens’ humor and dual personality shine through in a letter to Century Magazine in which he Samuel Langhorne Clemens has “secured the services of [himself] to interview Mr. Twain.” He continued, “Mr. Clemens has a better opinion of Mr. Twain, than anyone I know of, and this is likely to afford a pleasant and complimentary interview.”

Moreover, Clemens’ love and devotion for his wife Livy is evident in many items in the collection. Among them is a pleading letter to Clemens’ then-future father-in-law, Jervis Langdon, who was skeptical of his daughter’s engagement to Clemens. In the nine-page letter, the young, lovelorn Clemens defends his character and supplies a list of references to Langdon. In addition, so painful is the degree of his first marital separation a few years later that Clemens decided that “of 2 or 3 things must be done: Either you must come right over here for 6 months; or I must go right back home 3 or 4 weeks hence & both of us come here April 1st & stay all summer.”  Read full illustrated story.

Victorian Christmas

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