December 23 Friday – In Hartford Sam wrote to William Malcom Bunn (W.M. Bunn) (1842-1923), ex-territorial Governor of Idaho (1884-5), now a well known lawyer, after dinner speaker, clubman and art collector of Philadelphia. Evidently Bunn requested 25 lines from Sam on some subject, giving him only two days to provide them.

Six months is the very briefest interval which a slow old person would look at for any literary service…. And you wrong me when you appeal to my moral basis: Why, man, I haven’t got any! [MTP].

Frederick J. Hall for Webster & Co. wrote to Sam about the choice of writings for the Library of Humor prospectus:

We thought if it was composed principally of extracts from well known pieces by prominent authors, many would say in looking at it, that it was merely a collection of old matter…and for that reason most of the extracts given in the prospectus are from the less prominent writers, and extracts which comparatively few people have read. Then, to meet the objection that might arise from people who would wish all the standard humorous pieces, we have put in a number of full page illustrations as inserts…. Besides we have prepared an index of authors…and our agent can turn to that and show at once that all the prominent pieces are in the prospectus, besides a vast deal of matter that is comparatively new [MTLTP 240n3].

Sam also signed an ink drawing of himself: “Truly Yours / S.L. Clemens” and then signed diagonally across these two lines with “Mark Twain,” together with “Dec 23/87” [eBay sale Feb. 3, 2008, Item #: 150209651233].