July 2 Sunday – In Elmira, Sam wrote a short note to Orion. Though only about three-quarters done, Sam felt he had enough manuscript to cull from and planned to bring the manuscript to Hartford in “2 to 4 weeks hence” [MTL 4: 427].

Sam also wrote to Jim Gillis of Angels Camp days. Sam asked after Dick Stoker and added, “…I am here, close to bookstores & newspapers, & you & Dick ain’t,” then offers to send them any “book or paper” their “solitude needs.” Sam had also read Darwin’s Descent of Man, published earlier in the year and offered to send the book and others [MTL 4: 428].