Mark Twain Autograph Invitation Signed.

TWAIN, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens].

$3,000.00

Item Number: 132080

Rare autograph invitation signed by and in the hand of great American author Samuel Clemens. One page, 12 mo. on Clemens’ 21 Fifth Avenue letterhead the note reads, “Friday Jan. 17 Dear Kate Riggs the next Doe-Luncheon will happen at the above address on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 1p.m. please don’t fail to come. Yours ever Mark.” The recipient, Kate Douglas Wiggin [married to George Christopher Riggs] was an American educator, author and composer. She wrote children’s stories, most notably the classic children’s novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and composed collections of children’s songs. She started the first free kindergarten in San Francisco in 1878 (the Silver Street Free Kindergarten). With her sister during the 1880s, she also established a training school for kindergarten teachers. Kate Wiggin devoted her adult life to the welfare of children in an era when children were commonly thought of as cheap labor. Twain was well-known for entertaining his male friends at stag luncheons. In 1908, his friend and fellow writer Kate Douglas Wiggin chided him for only hosting his male friends, arguing that “brilliance is not limited to the stags–give a doe-luncheon & you will see.” Clemens conceded and the first ‘doe-luncheon’ on January 14 1908 was a great success. Twain quickly organized a second doe-luncheon for February 11, 1908, and in addition to Riggs, other attendees included children’s book author Frances Hodgson Burnett and actress Ethel Barrymore. In fine condition. A nice association.

"To understand America, read Mark Twain. No matter what new craziness pops up in America, I find it described beforehand by him He was never innocent, at home or abroad" (Garry Wills).