April 1 Monday –Sam returned to Hartford in time to give a reading at “Lib” Hamersley’s, including “Encounter with an Interviewer,” “The Skinned Man,” selections from HF and the Jumping Frog [MTNJ 3: 446; Fatout, MT Speaking 659]. Note: This reading was originally scheduled for Apr. 2 but was changed by Ellen T. Johnson in her Mar. 8 letter. Sam later noted to send thanks for the roses he was given for this event [MTNJ 3: 469n217]. 

Cassell & Co. wrote to Sam: “We have had a MSS submitted which purports to be your life and is written by Mr. Will M. Clemens of Garranza, Cal. The book seems to be a very fair one and we might be disposed to consider its publication, but before doing so we should like to know if this work was written with your sanction and approval” — otherwise they’d nix it. Sam wrote “answered” on the env. [MTP]. Note: See Nov. 18, 1879 for more on Will Clemens and his book, ultimately published in 1913. 

Charles Noel Flagg wrote in Hartford to Sam after hearing him read “this afternoon at the Misses Hamersley’s.” Flagg liked the reading, and mentioned the Cocquelin brothers, who “made me think that their name was synonymous with real comedy” [MTP]. See Apr. 3 on Flagg. 

Webster & Co. wrote to Sam with weekly reports, a check for $2,000 and a N.Y. World receipt showing the inserted ad “as directed.” Sales averaged 102 books per day [MTP]. 

Daniel Whitford wrote to Sam having just returned from a “long conference with Mr. Frohman,” discussing the question of foreign rights for the P&P play. He’d also written to the attorney Ingersoll about the tangle of disputes between Frohman, Richardson, House and Sam on the P&P dramatization [MTP].