Clemens, Samuel L.

Autograph letter signed ("SL Clemens") 7 pages (9 x 5 ½ in;  228 x 141 mm), Hartford, 8 June 1889 to Edward Bok; some browning to edges.

See The Americanization of Edward Bok (1927), p. 205 ff

some browning to edges.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Clemens on the printed interview, " ... a pallid, stiff and repulsive cadaver."

By 1889, Bok had progressed from a young, autograph or "personality letter" seeker and was working for Scribner's magazine and producing his "Literary Leaves" newsletter. Clemens was a frequent visitor to the Scribner's retail store and it seems that is where Bok (who had written Clemens years before and received the requested autograph) encountered the author. An interview of sorts must have taken place as in the present letter Clemens goes into great detail on the shortcoming of the printed text to convey the real intent of the spoken word. "Spoken speech is one thing, written speech is quite another ... The moment talk is put into print you recognize that it is not what it was when you heard it; you perceive an immense something has disappeared from it. That it is its soul."  The "naked remark" without "color, play of feature, the varying modulation of voice, the laugh, the smile, the informing inflections. ... is gone."

As can be expected, Clemens is entirely against having his conversation with Bok reproduced as an interview, "No: spare the reader and spare me; leave the whole interview out; it is rubbish. I
wouldn't talk in my sleep if I couldn't talk better than that."  He does however suggest printing the letter to explain to the reader "why it is in interviews as a rule men seem to talk like anybody but themselves."

Also included in another, shorter ALS on seemingly the same subject, but a year later, 20 November, 1890.  Therein Clemens states "Of course I want every single word of it left out."  He then decides that his point might be better served by a face-to-face conversation with Bok, inviting him to call the next time he is in Hartford, "I want to say things which— I want to argue with you."