Mitchell, S.W. Letter to William Farrar Smith, undated

MITCHELL, [Silas] Weir. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED. [Grand Cascapedia, Quebec, n.d.]. Four-page letter on Cascapedia Club stationery, consisting of two integral leaves with each leaf measuring 7 x 4.25”. According to a penciled note in an unidentified hand, on the final page, the recipient of this letter was William Farrar Smith (1824-1903), a major general of volunteers in the Civil War, and later a civil engineer and a New York police commissioner. In his letter, Mitchell discusses a proof for one of his books or magazine articles in Smith’s possession. Apologizing for his tremulous hand, he writes, “My ink is mud, my pen a stick! I hope it can be read.” [Actually, Mitchell’s tremor is less evident here than in his later correspondence, and the letter is easily legible].