February 20? Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford to William Mackay Laffan. He enclosed an invitation from Lawrence Barrett for the 50th anniversary celebration of J.R. Osgood at Delmonico’s, Feb. 28, 7 PM. Sam wrote “(Private.)/Dear Laffan: /Who is this? Neither Mrs. Clemens nor I can” [MTLE 5: 22]. In Sam’s hand on the reverse side he wrote “Lawrence Barrett / tragedian”. Notes: Laffan was Irish-born, a journalist on the New York Sun and its eventual owner. Budd calls Laffan “a rare mixture of bon vivant, fixer, and sophisticate” [Studies in Am. Humor online – http://www.compedit.com/] A member of the Tile Club (see Jan. 24 entry), Laffan probably met Sam there in Jan. 1880. They became friends.