August 21 Wednesday – In Elmira Sam wrote William Dean Howells about the delay in proofs of CY being sent:

…yesterday Mr. Hall wrote that the printer’s proof-reader was improving my punctuation for me, & I telegraphed orders to have him shot without giving him time to pray [MTHL 2: 610]. Note: Sam consistently resented any messing with his spelling or punctuation.

Sam also sent off the signed publishing agreement with Chatto & Windus to Andrew Chatto, along with a note about the publishing sequence (see Aug. 20) [MTP].

Webster & Co. reported to Sam:

We mail you today the first batch of page proofs [CY]. Our proof reader is now revising these with the galley proofs and we will send you a revised set as soon as ready [MTNJ 3: 512n109].

It is likely Sam made a quick trip to New York from Aug. 21 to 23, as he did not respond to Johnson’s Aug. 20 letter until Aug. 24, writing “I am sorry to have made delay by going away, but it was one of those unavoidable things.”