Appraisal: 1900 Mark Twain Letter
Clip: Season 27 Episode 23 | 1m 20s | Video has closed captioning.
In Did Grandma Lie?, Catherine Williamson appraises a Mark Twain letter from around 1900.
Aired: 03/27/23
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GUEST: I brought a letter that was written by Mark Twain to my great-great-grandfather trying to get a student into the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri, and trying to get a response.
APPRAISER: I love this letter.
Like a lot of Samuel Clemens' letters, it's an angry, "I want to see the manager" kind of letter.
He just starts off full of rage.
The letter begins, "By argument of two experiences of mine, "I suspect that your secretary "is afflicted with the several infirmities "usual to his guild: indifference, unfaithfulness, incapacity, discourtesy, and chronic fatigue."
And then goes on to the business of, "I'm trying to get this guy into this school, what can you do?"
He actually does sign "Mark Twain," but not "Samuel Clemens," which is interesting.
At this point, in most of his private correspondence, he would have signed "Samuel Clemens."
A good, saucy Twain letter sells for about $3,000 to $5,000 at auction in today's market.
GUEST: Great!
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