Lot 483
Edison, Thomas Alva. Autograph letter signed ("TAE"), 2 pp,10¾ x 8½ in., no place, no date. Some light dampstaining. A reassuring love letter to his wife: "Darling XXXXX Billy Sweetness Edison… Please Billy Darling don't get so despondent about yourself - there isn't one woman in 20,000 that is really so smart as yourself. Their apparent smartness is entirely superficial on account of their gift of gab. Their judgement isn't worth a cent, your lack of self confidence is the trouble, getting blue over such things is rotten nonsense…Read the newspapers Darling Billy - & stop novels….you got a lover who loves you more & more as we go along & you never need to worry for an instant of his constancy & reliability. So kiss the Darlings 21 times each for me & with the usual unlimited amount for yourself. I am your Lover. " With a four-line postcript signed "E."
Mina ("Billy") Miller Edison (1865-1947) was Edison's second wife, who was 20 years old when they married in 1886. His first wife, Mary Stillwell Edison, died in 1884. Edison had three children from his first marriage: Marion, Thomas, Jr., and William. He had three more children with Mina: Madeleine, Charles, and Theodore. It could not have been easy to be the wife or the children of such a famous man.
Estimated Value $1,000 - 1,500.
Christie's New York, May 22, 1996, lot 207.
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| Realized $1,094 |
