Clemens, Samuel L.

Autograph note signed ("Sam'l L. Clemens | ("Mark Twain")), with a drawing of a cat by Clemens and a drawing of a cat with its fur on end and back arched captioned "This is a dog" and signed ("Th. Nast"), one page 5 11/16 x 8 9/16 in.; 143 x 217 mm), Hartford, November 1877, to Charles Dudley Warner, chiding him for hurting the feelings of those who can actually draw and paint. — Autograph letter signed ("Mark"), 2 pages (8 7/8 x 5 1/2 in.; 225 x 140 mm), Elmira, New York, 22 July 1886, to Charles Dudley Warner, praising him for a literary work the latter has just completed; the two leaves joined together on the verso to form a bifolium, minor mat burn.

Victor and Irene Murr Jacobs (sale, Sotheby's, 29 october 1996, lot 41)

A humorous admonishment and an effusively complimentary letter by Clemens to fellow author, collaborator, and Hartford neighbor, Charles Dudley Warner. The note is decorated with an accomplished sketch by Clemens of a cat curled-up and asleep that he has captioned "A CAT" which is paired with a startled cat drawn by Thomas Nast and captioned "This is a dog." The note addresses Warner in the third person: "If by 'we,' Mr. Warner means Hartford generally, it would have better become him to speak for himself alone, & not wantonly hurt the feelings of such of us as can 'draw & paint.'"

While Clemens twitted Warner for his indirect comments on Clemens's alleged artlessness, his 1886 letter recognizes Warner's literary skills by praising his latest work:  "Lord, how do you do it! It did seem to me to be the most difficult ... the most impossible text to get anything out of ... But you have succeeded ... It's got everthing in it: pervasive & continuous interest, charming humor, flashing wit, noble scenery painting ... & love passages that break up the most callous self possession with their truth & strength & tenderness & beauty. It's a rounded, symmetrical & masterly performance altogether."  Lee and Shepard of Boston had just published Warner's Book of Eloquence: A Collection of Extracts in Prose and Verse. Warner collaborated with Clemens in 1873 on The Gilded Age, Clemens's first book-length piece of fiction. Theirs was an enduring friendship that was occasionally marred by a sense of rivalry.  Although highly regarded as a novelist and journalist in his lifetime, Warner is now chiefly remembered as the co-author of The Gilded Age.