I think it means you’re underread within that period, for what it’s worth.
The voice in that quote differs from Twain’s and sounds neither like a journalist, nor like a river-side-raised gentleman of the time, nor like a Nineteenth Century rural/cosmopolitan fusion written to gently mock both.
“Comparing information and knowledge is like asking whether the fatness of a pig is more or less green than the designated hitter rule.” -- David Guaspari