Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Leary, Katy
- Abstract:
- After Samuel Clemens’ death in 1910, Clara Clemens Samossoud and Katy Leary, a native of Elmira, N.Y. and trusted family servant for over thirty years, closed Twain’s final home in Redding, Connecticut called “Stormfield.” Clara permitted Katy Leary to select books from Twain’s personal library as keepsakes. Many of the books contain inscriptions, signatures, notes and markings by Samuel Clemens.
- Language:
- English
Background
- Scope and Content:
The Antenne Collection contains 92 volumes from Mark Twain’s personal library. At the time of Samuel Clemens’ death, his daughter, Clara Clemens Samossoud, allowed Katy Leary, a native of Elmira, N.Y. and trusted family servant for over thirty years to select as keepsakes books from Twain’s personal library. Many of the books contain inscriptions, signatures, notes and markings by Samuel Clemens. 67 volumes in the collection contain an inscription by Clemens, by book author, family member or by Catherine Leary. 24 volumes in the collection contain marginalia made by Mark Twain. Marginalia in these volumes range from markings in the text to lengthy narratives.
- Biographical / Historical:
Born in Elmira, N.Y. in 1862, Catherine Leary, at the age of seventeen joined the Clemens household as a housekeeper at their home in Hartford, Connecticut. She remained with the family until the death of Mark Twain in 1910.
Katy Leary received $10,000 from Mark Twain’s will and would continue to receive a monthly stipend from Clara for the rest of her life. Financially secure, Leary settled in New York City, where she ran a boarding house. She moved back to Elmira in 1922 and died in Elmira on October 5, 1934.
Katy’s nephew, Warren Leary, graduated from the Columbia school of Journalism and took a position at the Rice Lake Chronotype in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. He inherited his aunt’s set of books from Mark Twain’s Library and passed them down to his son, Warren Leary, Jr., who succeeded his father at the Rice Lake Chronotype. In 1970, the books were given to Katherine Leary Antenne.
In 1994, the books from Mark Twain’s library were donated by Robert and Katharine Antenne of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, to Elmira College.
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
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As a preservation measure, researchers are requested to use digital copies. Access to the originals may be granted in select circumstances.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
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As a preservation measure, researchers are requested to use digital copies. Access to the originals may be granted in select circumstances.
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
- CONTACT:
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