Dear Forum Members- Yesterday's snail mail brought me an article from the February 26, 1996 issue of Linn's Stamp news which announces a Mark Twain cover recently found up in Nova Scotia. A resident of Truro went to a stamp show and paid 25 cents (Canadian yet) for An envelope addressed in the hand of Samuel Clemens. The address reads Mr. Bradford Dudman Yarmouth Nova Scotia and is postmarked Branford, Conn., July 29, 1881. The return address, pre-printed on the envelope, reads, "Return to S.L. Clemens,/HARTFORD, Conn.,/If not delivered within 10 days." Inside, the new owner found a "white card engraved in red with Clemens' ornate Gilded Age 'SLC' monogram and the message: 'Dear Sir: In reply I am obliged to say that I have quitted the platform permanently. With thanks for the compliment of your invitation I am Truly Yours Mark Twain.'" The card itself seems to have been one that Clemens had printed up in advance and apparently is what is known as a facsimile card. Robert Hirst of the Mark Twain Project stated to the author of the article in question that up to this find, only three such cards were known to be in existence. The moral of this story is, if you are a collector, scholar, or whatever, don't quit looking. I haven't. ...and so there ain't nothing more to write about, and I am rotten glad of it... Marcus W. Koechig M&M Books [log in to unmask]