Lot 153
Clemens, Samuel L (1835-1910) Author, lecturer, satirist, and humorist; he wrote under the pseudonym Mark Twain. Document Signed "SLC" four times, with nineteen lines in Clemens' hand, 2pp, 11x8½", n.p., c. 1890. Very fine. The document pertains to the Paige automatic typesetting machine, in which Clemens invested and lost an enormous amount of money (a 17 Sept. 2006 Los Angeles Times article figured that Clemens lost about $4 million in today's dollars in this venture), and which, along with the failure of his publishing company, forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1894.
The purpose of this document was was to entice Senator John Percival Jones (1829-1912), a five-term U.S. senator from Nevada who made a fortune in mining, to invest in the machine. Clemens touts its wonders and its advantages over other machines, such as the Mergenthaler or Rogers. A letter from a Mr. Pasko, enthusing over the machine, is quoted on page one: "I regard your machine as the most ingenious piece of machinery it has ever been my pleasure to see…." Clemens added three handwritten notes on the first page, each signed "SLC" and two on the second page, one of them signed "SLC." One note reads: "This record is not quite complete. Whitmore was in his 36th day when the machine stopped; & he had then reached 7,000 an hour. When our apprentices reach 9,000 an hour we shall move the machine to New York. SLC." All of the notes add additional information on the Paige machine, which turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. Clemens was saved from total financial disaster by his writings and lectures.
Estimated Value $3,500 - 5,000.
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