Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm. M Eldridge Jr') from the Philadelphia inventor William M. Eldridge to Valentine Mott of New York, responding to 'slanders', and claiming that police searches have revealed 'the authors of the cards and all the mischief'.

3pp., 4to. 60 lines of text. Bifolium. Good, on aged paper. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Valentine Mott M.D. | 25 Park Place | New-York'; with three postmarks, one from Havre and another 'Forwarded by Lewis Rogers & Co.' (Mott was in Europe at the time of writing.) An tantalising letter, regarding an intriguing affair about which nothing else appears discoverable. Eldridge is sending 'a hand bill, 5000 of which have been circulated thro Paris and the towns in its vicinity'. He claims that 'The premises of every dealer in types, printing-presses and cards has been ransacked and through the aid of the police a discovery has been made which in a few days will discover to the world the authors of the cards and all the mischief for which I have been accountable | The printer of the cards has been found, so the charge of my having "a printing press in my rooms" proves about as true as the other items against me.' He declares that he will not leave Paris 'until every stain shall have been wiped away and my calumniators are placed in a light where the world may look upon them in their true character'. He has 'exercised some little forbearance' in the matter, and it is only 'the respect I have for you and the relation in which I have stood to your family' that prevents him from 'making a newspaper matter of it'. He has 'made every man who has been concerned in Paris accountable to me for the part they have taken in the slanders'. When Mott sees the notes Eldridge has received, he will 'readily excuse the measures I have taken to vindicate myself'. He continues with a reference to 'the affairs in which Sarah has played a part', claiming that he has 'every reason to respect her in the highest degree': 'it would be cruel, if not criminal, to draw me into a public explanation by the circulation of a story similar to that which has been whispered into the ears of certain persons in Paris'. He has 'refrained from saying any thing disparaging' to Mott's family, his only aim being 'to refute the slanders' against him. He concludes: 'By next Packet I hope to be able to send you the names of the "Anonymous writers" - I hope my course will be justified'.