Superlative matte-finish 10 x 12.5 Underwood and Underwood portrait of Clemens clad in his trademark white suit, a book on his lap, signed and inscribed in the wide white borders in black ink, “Mrs. John Wayland, with the affectionate regards of Mark Twain. Sept/08.” The copyright notice printed in the lower left reads, “Copyright 1907 by Underwood & Underwood, New York.” Gorgeously double-matted and framed to an overall size of 14.75 x 17. In fine condition. An exceptional oversized portrait boasting a bold signature and exceptionally clean, bright image.
In Mark Twain’s Autobiography, published in 1906, he announced his intention to wear white suits year round. He was more comfortable in white than in dark colors, but had always conformed to seasonal fashion. He wrote: ‘One of my sorrows, when the summer ends, is that I must put off my cheery and comfortable white clothes and enter for the winter into the depressing captivity of the shapeless and degrading black ones.’ Although Clemens’s prolific writing career was long behind him when he began wearing his white suits, it is this image of the author that remains ingrained in the public imagination—this photograph in particular, showing him with book in hand, is a wonderfully appropriate example.
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