September 19 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Webster, upset about material bearing his name published by J.S. Ogilvie & Co. that he had not written.
“Dear Charley—I want Messrs. Alexander & Green to go for these people at once & lively, on some charge or other. They are using my name to sell stuff which I never wrote. I would not be the author of that witless stuff (Bad Boy’s Diary) for a million dollars” [MTBus 197].
Sam wrote a second letter to Webster, praising him for recovering funds from the Howard brothers, whom he called “the Watch thieves.” Sam wanted Webster to be his general agent to distribute LM for the New York region. He would hire someone to teach Webster the subscription business, if necessary.
“Osgood will be home pretty soon [from Europe] & you can consult with him; but he doesn’t know the subscription business yet, himself. Osgood can probably get some chap or girl for you who has served a General Agent in Boston—somebody who can help you for wages, in New York, & teach you the methods.”
“I am not well yet, & my book drags like the very devil. Some days I cannot write a line” [MTBus 199].
Sam also asked for Ha! Ha! Ha!: 72 Pages of Fun by Leading Humorists (1882).
Note: The subscription method of using sales agents to pre-sell books was on the way out in favor of trade book distribution in stores. This may partly account for the slowing of sales on Sam’s last book, P&P.
Sam also wrote to Twichell, apologizing for not answering his letter from Europe, due to the struggle he was having with LM.
“I am full of malaria, my brain is stuffy & cloudy nearly all the time. Some days I have been five hours writing two note-paper pages” [MTP].
Sam also wrote to George MacDonald agreeing to send LM when it issued, Sam thought “not before Spring,” in exchange for Back of the North Wind, MacDonald’s book (See Gribben, p 441 for a discussion of the influence of this book on Mysterious Stranger.) Sam enclosed “one of Osgood’s neat heliotypes, from a photographic negative” [MTP].
Charles T.H. Palmer wrote from Oakland, Calif. He asked for some “important facts” for his “psychological investigation,” relating to his difficulty with public speaking, but first related that he’d met Clemens on Montgomery St. in S.F. and had a 5 minute conversation with Charles Stoddard, “a good many years ago.” He wished to know “whether you ever stammered or not. I want now to ascertain whether extreme slowness of speech is only desirable, or is absolutely essential” [MTP]. See Oct. 3 entry.
Mary Yates Watson wrote from England to thank him for the 3 nice books sent for her stall at a recent event where she collected over £300 [MTP].