SIGNED MARK TWAIN IN QUOTATION MARKS

MT as "Mark Twain"

This 1877 letter -- trying to start up a relationship with George Bentley, a well-known English publisher -- is one of only two letters I've come across in the Barrett Collection where MT puts his other name, "Mark Twain," in quotation marks. He clearly wants Bentley to recognize him in both his personal and professional identities, and so signs both names boldly. It's not clear, however, what he is signaling by the quotation marks. (Note that the design on the stationery also includes the two identities as the initials "MT" and "SLC" -- Twain, or Clemens, or both, frequently used this stationery in the 1870s.)

TRANSCRIPT OF LETTER
1877 LETTER TO GEORGE BENTLEY, PAGE 2






YOURS TRULY HOMEPAGE