May 27 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Moncure Conway who had written Sam of an early publication date by Chatto of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Sam asked for prospective newspaper reviews from England and mentioned a postal card he’d received from Bliss over a week ago. Sam asked for two or three early copies of the book. In a teasing barb to Conway, Sam ended by saying the family would:

“…take up summer quarters at Elmira, N.Y. It is not in order that we may be under the protecting wings of a Young Men’s Christian Association, but merely that we may roost on the summit of the neighboring range of highlands & be safe from the heats of the season” [MTLE 1: 62]. Note: Moncure had been involved with a dispute over lecture payment from the Elmira YMCA.

Genen I. Pietz wrote to Sam [MTP].