January 5 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Francis D. Clark, secretary for the Associated Pioneers of the Territorial Days of California, to decline an invitation to their first annual meeting and banquet. Sam was not well enough, he wrote, to come, and his illness had put “his work back to such a degree” that he’d have to stay home for some time to catch up [MTLE 1: 30]. Note: Sam suffered from dysentery as noted in his bad pun to Twichell, Dec. 29 or 30.

Sam also wrote another postcard to Moncure Conway in care of James T. Fields in Boston, answering his of Jan. 4 and agreeing to allow Conway to be his agent in England for publication of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by a company of Conway’s choice. The two had evidently discussed having the book published in England prior to Bliss publishing it in the U.S. Sam invited Conway back to Hartford before Conway sailed [MTLE 1: 31].

Sam also dictated a letter through an unidentified stenographer to William Wright (Dan De Quille), who wrote Sam on Nov. 21 to ask if he’d seen Bliss on the matter of Wright’s book, The Big Bonanza. Sam wrote about Bliss’ “slow ways” and advised Wright to keep on him about publication dates. True Williams was nearly finished with the Tom Sawyer drawings, and he’d told Sam that he was going to draw for Wright’s book next. Sam also wrote about Joe Goodman, Steve and Billy Gillis and advised Wright to retire to California “and be content to be comfortable.”

“If I had Joe Goodman’s money and his brains I don’t think I would fool away the one and rack the other running an evening paper—or any other kind. But I suppose it is hard to get over old habits” [MTLE 1: 32].

Moncure Conway wrote from Boston of his plans to be in Hartford for three lecture dates, Jan 18, 22 and 23, with possibly others in nearby cities like New Haven.

We will talk over the book when we meet in the intervals of b-ll-r-ds. By the way, we think b — ds a good Sunday pastime in London — especially holy (perhaps because our tables have holes) — but I suppose that at Farmington we should make the old Puritan gods turn over in their graves by the click of anything that did not give pain [MTPO].