ALS signed “Aufwiedersehen, S. L. Clemens,” two pages on two adjoining sheets, 3.75 x 6, Villa Viviani letterhead, March 20, 1893. Letter to Mrs. Ross. In full: “It was my purpose to run in & indulge my pleasure in the society of Sir William & my Lady a little more, & I count it a loss that I failed of the chance; but my time has been all taken up in clearing the decks for America. This seems unprompt; but I have a trained conscience, & I quiet it by telling it I am on my road to pay it now, merely by going by the way of New York and Chicago for the sake of variety, & because it is much more creditable to go 8,000 miles to pay a dinner-call than it is to go a mere matter of 600 yards.” Suede-matted and framed to an overall size of 13.5 x 11.5; there are two hooks along the top edge of this frame for hanging on its larger display of a double-suede-matted and framed portrait and biographical plaque, which measures 29 x 23. In fine condition, with a bit of scattered light toning and soiling.
“Mrs. Ross” was Janet Ross, the daughter of translator and writer Lucie Duff Gordon and the wife of banker Henry Ross. Henry and Janet Ross visited with Clemens when he and his family would visit Italy, with those encounters—and this very letter—printed in Ross’ 1912 book, The Fourth Generation (1912). Ross wrote, in part: ‘In February 1893 my cousins, Sir William Markby and Lady Markby, came to stay with us and liked Mr. Clemens as much as we did. Mr. Clemens came to dine several times and we had planned some excursions together, when I received the following letter,’ one in which he regretfully passes on another dinner invitation. “Because it is much more creditable to go 8,000 miles to pay a dinner-call than it is to go a mere matter of 600 yards,” he skillfully notes. Two days after sending this correspondence, Clemens set sail for New York aboard the Kaiser Wilhelm II to work on a business deal. While preparation for that journey led to Clemens’ “clearing the decks for America,” the venture itself—and its subsequent failure—led to his 1894 bankruptcy. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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