February 20 Thursday – Orion Clemens finished his Feb. 19 letter to Sam:

Ma coughed nearly all night. Miss Craig soothed her to sleep three times — her longest nap was about an hour. To-day she is not coughing much, her appetite seems to have returned, and she is now (3:15 pm), up, dressed in her velvet, looking natural, and walking around in her room. It looks now as if she will get well [MTP].

Adolfo Ramasso wrote from Rome asking to translate ten of Sam’s sketches into Italian [MTP].

Dr. Clarence C. Rice wrote a small card to Sam. Rice had seats for Saturday evening, Mar. 1 for a play; he also hoped Livy had no more trouble with the tonsils [MTP].

Frederick J. Hall wrote to Sam (Osgood Apr. 16, 1883 encl.): “I return herewith the letter from Mr. Osgood, which I read with interest. / You will see by the reports sent you last night that your book is selling. / We have a scheme for keeping your book going all summer.” The plan involved advertising in “nearly all the college papers in our territory” [MTP]. It’s not clear why Sam sent Osgood’s old letter to Hall — except he praises American Publishing Co.’s sale of Sam’s books.