March 17 Saturday – At 30 Wellington Court in London, England Sam wrote to John Y. MacAlister, entirely about Harper & Brothers plans to make two books out of his assorted sketches. MacAlister was editor of the Library in London, as well as being a principal in the Plasmon schemes, so may have had some interest in publishing a few of Mark Twain’s sketches. Or, Sam may have considered him a valued advisor in sorting out the complications of British copyright, simultaning, magazine articles, etc. Sam was trying to determine the date of publication by Harpers; he’d just received the proofs from the first book and part of the second. He had the right of veto over specific items [MTP].

Christian B. Tauchnitz wrote from Leipzig to Sam. “Certainly, it will always give me the greatest pleasure to include your fine books into my Continental Lines, and I shall be glad to receive proofs of your forthcoming volume, at your earliest convenience” [MTP]. Note: Tauchnitz replied to Sam’s not-extant letter.

Academy (London) ran an anonymous article, “Mr. Kipling and Mark Twain,” p. 237. Tenney: “On Kipling’s interview with MT, as reprinted in his From Sea to Sea. Here quoted extensively, it ‘is in some respects the best interview that we have ever read,’ revealing Kipling’s profound admiration for MT” [31-2]