SAMUEL L. "MARK TWAIN" CLEMENS - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 06/29/1871 - HFSID 16921

SAMUEL CLEMENS
Clemens handwrote and signed this 1871 letter to his lecture manager while planning his fall/winter lecture tour. In it, he advises Redpath to announce the title of his lecture as "To be announced" - good advice, as he changed his lecture at least three times.
Autograph letter signed "Mark" in pencil. 1 page, 4 ¾x7¼. Elmira, New York. Addressed to "Dr. Redpath", probably James Redpath of Redpath's Lyceum Bureau in Boston, Massachusetts. In full: "Dr. Redpath - Don't be in any hurry about announcing the title of my lecture. Just say "To be announced." Because, I wrote a new lecture to-day entitled simply "D.L.H." According to our researcher, this letter was probably written around July 27, 1871. He'd notified Redpath on July 10 that he would tour on the lecture circuit for the fall/winter season (approximately October to January of the next year). He went through a number of lectures during this time. His first was supposed to be a funny one about giving the vote to boys but, according to this letter, he had decided to develop an unknown lecture called "D.L.H." Ultimately, he decided to use neither, and started the tour with one entitled "Reminiscences of Some Pleasant Characters Whom I Have Met" - which he dropped in late October during a stop in Washington, DC in favor of a lecture on his friend and mentor Artemus Ward. We really do hope that Redpath took Clemens' advice to "just say 'To be announced.'" Clemens (1835-1910), who wrote under the pen name Mark Twain, was a steamboat pilot, journalist, world traveler and renowned lecturer. Above all, he was a skillful essayist and novelist whose lasting contributions to American literature include Tom Sawyer (1875), Huckleberry Finn (1885) and A Connecticut Yankee At King Arthur's Court (1889). Lightly toned and creased. With "Boston Lyceum Bureau" stamp in black ink, dated June 29, 1871, at top right corner touching writing. Pages have been torn neatly on left from a pad or larger sheet. Folded once vertically and thrice times horizontally. Otherwise in fine condition.