ALS signed “Clemens,” 5 x 7.75, one lightly lined page both sides, October 18 [1870]. Twain writes to his friend Francis P. Church. In full: “The matter referred to in the last paragraphs of this ‘Memoranda’ is a quiet satire on your infernal Galaxy portraits & is accompanied by a ghastly likeness of King William which I have worried over till it is bad enough to suit me. It must be engraved exactly as I have drawn it or it will suffer damage. It can not be improved on, by making it either better or worse. The whole thing is good, but if you do not ant it, just drop off the paragraph which refers to it & I will understand, & will publish it as a lithograph, through Prang. sometimes I get ready to give you notice that I’ll quite at the end of my year because the Galaxy work crowds book work so much, but I am very fond of doing the Memoranda, & take a live interest in it always—& so I hang on & hang on & give no notice—still the chances are that I shall be frightfully crowded for time eventually! & so it is better that I make some mention of it while yet it is far off, so that if I have to give notice at last it won’t seem like taking ‘snap-judgment’ you know.” In 1866, Church and his brother William founded The Galaxy, an illustrated monthly magazine. In 1868, Clemens contributed two stories to the magazine. In 1870, he agreed to write a regular feature called “Memoranda,” which appeared monthly for nearly a year. Church later gained immortality when, as an editorial writer at the New York Sun, he replied to a young reader’s question in an editorial which began “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Intersecting folds and mild soiling and handling wear, otherwise fine condition. JSA/John Reznikoff Auction LOA and RRAuction COA.
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