[Original Autograph Letter, Signed ("S. L. Clemens"), to Mrs. Hookway] de Clemens, Samuel L - 1909

Stormfield, Redding, CT, 1909. Two pages, in ink, on two panels of a folded oblong quarto sheet of letterhead. Ca. 125+ words. Folded for mailing, tanned from having been at some point framed, a few faint smudges, small chip at lower edge affecting one letter (chip still present), otherwise very good. To "Dear Mrs. Hookway," evidently a teacher involved in the staging of children's dramatic productions, following up on an earlier letter and receipt of some photographs, as well as a parcel of letters written to him by the children: "The photographs have come, & they were a charming surprise to me, they so far exceeded my expectations. Certainly the staging & costuming of the piece were beautiful; & little by little, & bit by bit, I gathered the piece itself from the 85 letters of the children, much as one patches one of those incoherent puzzle things together & finds that it is a picture - a picture that is graceful, & orderly, & full of life and color ... Once or twice in my life, no doubt, I have received 85 letters in one mail, but I haven't received 85 interesting ones in one mail until now. With many, many thanks, Sincerely yours S.L. Clemens."