$1,400
Clemens, Samuel L. (Mark Twain). Signed Check to His Brother, Orion Clemens. First National Bank of Hartford (Connecticut), in the amount of eighty-two dollars, July 26, 1875. Together with a typed transcript of a letter housed in the University of California, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, Berkeley, which refers to the $82 dollars, likely originally enclosed, and to one item in his account, namely "pew rent," to which Clemens states "You might as well borrow money to sport diamonds with. I am willing to lend you money to procure the needs of life, but not to procure so useless a luxury as a church pew. It would be much better become a man to remain away from church than borrow money to hire a pew with. The principle of this thing is what I am complaining of - not the amount of money."
Auctioneer:
Potter & Potter
Date:
2017-07-08
