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Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 2377
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Twain Asks His Young "Quaker City" Shipmate & Favorite, Emma Beach, For Help With His Articles About the Voyage
January 31, 1868
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 2111
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Original Painting of the Steamship "Quaker City" Moored at Naples on its Excursion to the Holy Land
August, 1867
Historical artifacts
1 page
SMC 2303
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Saul Bellow on Kissinger, Sadat, and Writing "To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account"
October 26, 1975
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1565
In Jerusalem, and writing the journal which was to become "To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account," Bellow muses about his experiences in that city: the various and interesting people he is meeting, what he is thinking, and passing along what he has heard about two of great figures of that time and place – Henry Kissinger and Anwar Sadat.
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Autograph Note Signed
1 page
SMC 1617
A brief note regarding composition from Mark Twain, directing either Elisha or Frank Bliss to set something up in facsimile rather than type.
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Olivia Clemens Quotes “Mr. Clemens” - Mark Twain - About a Phrase in “Following the Equator”
January 9, 1898
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1670
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Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1673
Mark Twain gently Emerson's prose as being like "gravel in the bread," while at the same time complimenting Laura Wright Benjamin on her husband, William Wright, whose nom de plume was Dan de Quille.
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Mark Twain Discovers His Newfound Celebrity Status Upon his Return from His "Quaker City" Voyage
December 13, 1867
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1681
Mark Twain only realizes that his correspondence from his travels have made him something of a celebrity writer upon his return.
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From "Innocents Abroad," Mark Twain's Famous Soliloquy at the Tomb of Adam in the Holy Land
November, 1870
Autograph Quotation Signed
1 page
SMC 1682
Mark Twain's handwritten irreverent soliloquy from the Tomb of Adam in the Holy Land from Innocents Abroad.
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Autograph Letter Signed
8 pages
SMC 1684
A long and flirtatious letter from the young bachelor Mark Twain to Emma Beach, primarily about their recently shared “Quaker City” excursion to Europe and the Holy Land. He discusses, amongst other things, a lecture he's been up all night writing, and how the photos taken of him in Egypt are a terrible likeness.
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Mark Twain's Last Day in New York Before Leaving on the "Quaker City," Spent Drinking With Writers
June 8, 1867
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1686
A letter written in the wee hours of the morning after an evening and night spent drinking. Twelve hours later, Twain would be aboard "The Quaker City."
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Mark Twain Promotes his "Quaker City" Roommate to His Publisher as a Promoter of The Innocents Abroad
December 28, 1869
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 1687
Dan Slote, Mark Twain's roommate on the "Quaker City" voyage, has sold about 200 copies of The Innocents Abroad to his friends, and given away about a dozen more. He is very well-connected, and can sell more copies. Twain asks his publisher to supply Slote with about 50 more copies of the book at a 40% discount, to be paid after he's sold the books.
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Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 1688
Twain is asked by a correspondent for recommended reading. Here he lists his favorite books.
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Autograph Note Signed
2 pages
SMC 2117
Samuel Clemens explains his nom de plume as originating as a navigational term along the Mississippi. "Mark Twain" signified a depth sounding of two fathoms, and was called out by the leadsman; it was a term Twain, having served as a riverboat captain, would have heard daily.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 110
Primarily discussing his book "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom," T.E. Lawrence confides in Brig. General Sir Gilbert Falkingham Clayton that no person of any "race or creed" living in Palestine trusts the British for "more than two minutes." If they would, he ruefully comments, "things would be more stable there."
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Mark Twain Names His Lecture Tour About Holy Land Trip: "The American Vandal Abroad"
October 7, 1868
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 117
Twain's use of the title, The American Vandal Abroad – a play on The Innocents Abroad - suggests that perhaps American tourists to the Holy Land weren't always so innocent. Twain recorded, aghast, how these religious pilgrims sliced off souvenirs from venerable biblical sites in Palestine.
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Mark Twain to French Jewish Writer Marcel Schwob: "I Do Commit Crimes, But They Are Not of This Grade"
November 4, 1888
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 118
Here Twain denounces a French translation of a story he did not write, pronouncing it a "singularly unpleasant production." He assures Schwob that he has been deceived: "I do commit crimes," he writes, "but they are not of this grade."
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Autograph Manuscript Signed
2 pages
SMC 119
Mark Twain's handwritten mockup of the title page and dedication of More Tramps Abroad with a note about Innocents Abroad.
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"The American Historian of Joan of Arc Makes His Best Compliments," But Unable to Meet French Ambassador
October 23, 1902
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 120
Samuel Clemens, speaking in third person, referring to himself as "the American historian of Joan of Arc," regretfully declines an invitation to meet the French ambassador. He signs the letter as "Mark," though he also refers to himself as Clemens.
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Ulysses S. Grant Says Mark Twain Has Offered Him "More Favorable Terms" To Publish His Memoirs
November 23, 1884
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 121
Here, Grant reports to his friend and advisor, George Childs, that he’s soured on the Century deal, and is being wooed by Twain’s own publishing firm, Charles L. Webster & Co.
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Jack London, Hit Hard By the San Francisco Earthquake, Concentrates on Building His Yacht, "The Snark"
May 15, 1906
Typed Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 140
The San Francisco earthquake, just three weeks before, has nearly wiped London out, and he hasn't, he says here, the funds to invest in an improved gas stove; his priority is building "the Snark, " with which he will circumnavigate the globe.
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Autograph Manuscript Signed
1 page
SMC 167
Robert Frost expresses his identification with, and friendship for, the "brave… little" nation of Israel. He also recommends reading the story of Nehemiah, possibly as a prelude to the modern-day restoration of the Jews to Israel.
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Broadside
1 page
SMC 186
Broadside advertising Henry Dickson's museum of Palestine. Dickson, having lived in Palestine for five years, offers his spectators not only curiosities from the country, but insight as to the dress and custom of the Arab people. He also retells the story of the fateful night in which his family were "beaten, robbed and murdered."
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Abraham Lincoln Biographer Ida Tarbell Praises Isaac Markens's "Abraham Lincoln and the Jews"
March 24, 1913
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 198
Here, Ida Tarbell, renowned for her biography of Abraham Lincoln, salutes Isaac Markens, whose seminal study of Lincoln and the Jews pioneered the genre in Lincoln literature.
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Mark Twain, on the Heroic Writing, and Fantastic Success, of Ulysses S. Grant's Memoirs
February 3, 1887
Autograph Letter Signed
6 pages
SMC 282
Samuel Clemens encloses a copy of General Grant's memoirs, calling them "the most admirably simple, direct, and unpretentious story that was ever put on paper by a supremely great man."
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Autograph Quotation Signed
2 pages
SMC 284
Mark Twain signs the back of a menu for the The Willard Hotel in January of 1906. The aphorism: "On the whole, it is better to deserve honors & not have them, than to have them & not deserve them."
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Abraham Lincoln Arranges for the Anonymous Publication of His Famous Poem "My Childhood Home I See Again"
February 25, 1847
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 353
To minimize the risk of ridicule, Congressman-Elect Abraham Lincoln asks fellow lawyer, Andrew Johnston, to publish his poem about the publication his poem anonymously in the Quincy Whig.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 414
Here, relating to the Mexican War ending, Abraham Lincoln alludes to "Othello's occupation's gone."
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Herman Melville "Disinters," a Rare Copy of "Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land" to Send it to an Admirer
January 22, 1885
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 419
Herman Melville sends his only presentation copy of Clarel to an admirer, noting that the poem was so unpopular, the admirer would have a difficult time getting his hands on a copy.
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Edgar Allan Poe Details His Literary Life and Says "The Raven and "The Valdemar Case" Are His Best Work
April 16, 1846
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 458
Poe discusses literary merit and the business of publishing; identifies "The Raven" and "The Valdemar Case" as his best work.
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Mourning Daughter Susy, Mark Twain Describes His Family Life as Adrift, Indifferent, and Derelict
January 19, 1897
Autograph Letter Signed
3 pages
SMC 484
Mark Twain describes the listlessness of his family life since the sudden death of his daughter Susy. Whereas once they had a charted course, now they are adrift. And what is more, they are "derelict" and indifferent to their plight.
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Card Signed
1 page
SMC 503
Samuel Clemens's calling card, signed on the back as Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens.
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Franklin Pierce Describes Nathaniel Hawthorne's Last Night Alive on Their Trip to New England
May 19, 1864
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 583
Former President Pierce tells the story of his friend, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne's demise, detailing their last trip and the epic moment of Pierce’s discovery of his death.
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 719
Jack London tells a fan and possible relative that London is a common Jewish surname and he has often been approached by Jewish people inquiring if he is related to the Jewish contingent.
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 754
Max Nordau agrees to help a Mrs. E. Woodruff with her book, vowing to send his "literary might" shortly.
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Max Nordau Praises the Juvenile Poetry of "E. Babette Deutsch" and Predicts an Exceptional Future
October 22, 1907
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 755
Over a decade before she became famous as a poet, novelist, critic and translator, Babette Deutsch received this letter of praise from Max Nordau.
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Fifteen Years as Prime Minister is Enough, David Ben-Gurion Says: Now He's Writing the History of Israel
June 27, 1966
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 772
David Ben-Gurion explains to an admirer that he left politics because no single person should be practically synonymous with a country. He has a different and important task at hand: writing his epic history of Israel from 1870-1965.
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Chaim N. Bialik on the Jewish Persecutions in the Diaspora and the Determination to Make a Home in Zion
May 19, 1934
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 782
Writing in 1934, Bialik affirms that the latest persecutions of the Jewish people necessitate the creation of a Jewish state.
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Chaim Weizmann Thanks British Zionist Leader for a Copy of His Book, "The Jews, the War and After"
December 14, 1943
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 829
Weizmann thanks the British Zionist leader, Phineas Horowitz, for a copy of his new book, The Jews, the War and After, which he looks forward to reading "with much pleasure and profit."
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Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 927
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. avidly read Joseph Hertz's book about Jewish thought, and lists for Hertz's brother Emanuel, his favorite passages.
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Candidate Franklin Pierce Writes About Nathaniel Hawthorne's Campaign Biography of Him
September 27, 1852
Autograph Letter Signed
2 pages
SMC 967
An agitated candidate Pierce writes to the publisher of Nathaniel Hawthorne's campaign biography of him, demanding that the West and Southwest be "liberally supplied" with "Hawthorne's book" as "the sales which are to be made must be made promptly."
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Autograph Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1066
Here the bibliophilic Fillmore, whose time in the White House was best spent, by all accounts, building its library, thanks a prominent Albany publisher for “a copy of that indispensable ‘Manual’ to every New Yorker, ‘The Red Book,’” on his last day in office.
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Carl Sandburg: Walt Whitman "Strolls In and Out of the Pages Regularly" of His Lincoln Biography
October 12, 1938
Typed Letter Signed
1 page
SMC 1110
Carl Sandburg, a poet who won acclaim for his four-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln, tells Morris Lychenheim,one of Whitman’s last surviving friends, that Walt Whitman "strolls in and out of the pages regularly."
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Typed Manuscript Signed
4 pages
SMC 1111
Manuscript of Vachel Lindsay's "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight" with an early letter from the poet to the Springfield Art Society. Lindsay had conceived of the idea to have a contest in order to design a flag for the city of Springfield. However, he makes it clear in this letter that he wants to have "no hand in the matter."
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Abraham Lincoln's Scarce Reference to Deaths of Mother and Sister, With Accompanying Poem About Memory
April 18, 1846
Autograph Letter Signed
4 pages
SMC 1553
In all of Abraham Lincoln's surviving letters, he only mentions the death of his mother twice, and the loss of his sister once; both are mentioned here. Lincoln also includes a poem he wrote on the occasion of returning to his home state twenty years after he departed it.
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