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Legendary American Author and Humorist Mark Twain Autograph Letter Signed Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) in purple ink,...
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Description
Legendary American Author and Humorist Mark Twain Autograph Letter Signed Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) in purple ink, on 4.5" x 7" note paper, Buffalo, New York,Nov. 1870Consists of a delightful quote from The Innocents Abroad: The passage is as follows (From Soliloquy at the Tomb of Adam): "The grave of Adam! How touching it was here in a land of strangers, far away from home, & friends, & all who care for me, thus to discover the grave of a blood relation. Fine, a distant one, but still a relation. The unerring instinct of nature thrilled its recognition. The fountain of my filial affection was stirred to its profoundest depths, & I gave way to tumultuous emotion'. It is on page 567 - well toward the end of the book."
He refers to the alleged tomb in Palestine of Adam, of Garden of Eden fame, and satirizes the musings of the American visitor, who was no more related to Adam than each and every one of us. He also pokes fun at the solemn declaration that this is the precise spot where Adam is actually buried, rather hard to substantiate, but certainly good for the tourist trade. The passage was inspired by Twain's own trip to the Holy Land, and his visit to the Greek Chapel in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which claimed the grave to be genuine "because it has never yet been proven that that grave is not the grave in which he is buried."
Fine condition, nicely custom-framed with portrait of Twain, overall 12.5" x 23". Ex-Darvick Collection, sold at Sotheby's in 1991. An exceptionally fine Twain letter, with double signature and important literary reference. Accompanied by LOA from PSA/DNA.
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