ALS signed “Mark,” one page both sides, 4.5 x 7, April 9, 1874. Letter to Jerome B. Stillson, managing editor of the New York World. In full: "Will you please have all the exchanges saved & put by for me that contain that silly item that I have 'received & paid the bill for a complimentary supper given to me in Hartford?' In confidence, I am bringing a libel suit & I want these papers as evidence. Don't mention it. We shall arrive at the Windsor Hotel Wednesday evening next, & remain over Thursday. My wife is not strong, & we are away for the summer. Try to drop in there; I want to talk business, & I never find you at the office. Now send a note to the office of the hotel, saying what hour you'll call." In very good to fine condition, with intersecting folds and a diagonal crease. The New York World's 'exchanges' were copies of other newspapers it received in exchange for copies of its own issues. Apparently, the New York Post had run a piece stating, 'Mark Twain recently received and paid the bill for a complimentary supper tendered him in Hartford,' which was then reprinted in several other newspapers. The claim was refuted in Charles Dudley Warner's Hartford Courant on April 10th.
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