TWAIN, Mark (pseudonym of CLEMENS, Samuel Langhorne (1835-1910)). Inscribed Postcard Signed. [Stormfield in Redding, CT] Xmas Day / 08. Addressed "Dear Mr. Coe:" Black and white printed image of Twain smoking a pipe at a windowsill at Stormfield, with his business advisor, Ralph Ashcroft (1875-1947) standing behind him, and his secretary, Isabel Van Kleek Lyon (1868-1958) standing just outside facing Twain. Approximately 5 x 3". Inscribed by Twain on both sides of the card: "Dear Mr. Coe: I am smoking your health in your [overleaf] noble cigars. I wish you and Mrs. Mai were here to assist. In the picture it is family worship. I am trying to do the Beatitudes, & Ashcroft is prompting. With love to you both - SLC [flourish]".

The recipient, William Robertson Coe (1869-1955) was a railroad executive and rare book collector. Coe's wife, Mai Rogers Coe (1875-1924) knew Twain through her parents, Henry and Abbie Rogers; Henry Rogers was Twain's best friend near the end of his life and was one of the wealthiest men in America at the time. In March, 1909 (three months after this postcard was inscribed), Ashcroft married Lyon with Twain's blessing; however, in April of that same year, Twain fired both and wrote a lengthy rant (429 pages!) in which he called Lyon "a liar, a forger, a thief, a hypocrite, a drunkard, a sneak, a humbug, a traitor, a conspirator, a filthy-minded and salacious slut pining for seduction." Twain and his daughter Clara (1874-1962) went on to insult her in newspapers, despite Lyon's seven years of service to the Clemens family. There is much speculation as to why Twain turned against her so severely (embezzling from Twain, that Lyon was planning to marry Twain for his money before her marriage to Ashcroft, that Clara manipulated her father against Lyon to cover up her own affair, etc.) but the real reason is still unclear. Whatever the reason, this association only makes this postcard more interesting and desirable! 

Lightly toned, rubbed, some faint soiling. Fine.