ALS signed “S. L. Clemens,” two pages on two adjoining sheets, 4.5 x 7, no date but circa 1894. Handwritten letter to Dracula author Bram Stoker regarding his ill-fated investment in the Paige typesetting machine. In part: "I am not dating this, because it is not to be mailed at present. When it reaches you it will mean that there is a hitch in my machine enterprise—a hitch so serious as to make it take to itself the aspect of a dissolved dream. This letter, then, will contain cheque for the $100 which you have paid. And will you tell Irving for me—I can't get up courage enough to talk about this misfortune myself, except to you, whom by good luck I haven't damaged yet—that when the wreckage presently floats ashore he will get a good deal of his $500 back; & a dab at a time I will make up to him the rest. I'm not feeling as fine as I was when I saw you there in your home. Please remember me kindly to Mrs. Stoker. I gave up that London lecture-project entirely. Had to—there's never been a chance since to find the time." In fine condition, with a small spot of discoloration to the bottom of the first page.
Samuel Clemens invested heavily in the Paige typesetting machine during the 1880s and 1890s, believing it would revolutionize the printing industry. Despite its mechanical brilliance, the machine was plagued by reliability issues and ultimately lost out to simpler, more practical competitors like the Linotype. At the end of 1894, after Paige's machine performed disastrously in a long test run with other typesetting machines, Clemens gave up any hope for its commercial success. Clemens poured $300,000 into the project—most of his book profits, as well as a large portion of his wife's inheritance—plus fifteen years of effort, only to have it end in abject failure. Many point to Clemens's over-investment in the Paige typesetter as the cause of not only his family's financial decline, but also the decline of his wit and humor.
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