May 13 Wednesday – In Hartford Sam wrote two letters to Frederick J. Hall about an offer to serialize The American Claimant.

All right, accept Mr. Curtis’s offer of $6,000. I’d rather have that than $8,000 from those other papers. You want to have in writing the date that we can issue the book; and how long we may canvass before issuing and before they have finished the serial publication (6 weeks?) — so that we can publish by subscription in case we should wish to [MTLTP 274]. Note: Cyrus H.K. Curtis, publisher of the Ladies Home Journal; Edward W. Bok was editor. Within a short time problems arose in coordinating English with American installments so as to properly protect relative copyrights. See May 20 to Hall.

In Sam’s second letter to Hall, he advised him not to start “that monthly check” to their gardener, John O’Neil, “till July 1, instead of June 1.” He also admonished, “Don’t let Curtis syndicate the story” [MTLTP 275]. Note: John and Ellen O’Neil would be caretakers of the Hartford house during the Clemenses stay in Europe [MTNJ 3: 624n187].

Sam also sent Charles J. Langdon a check for $3,000 to be deposited to Livy’s credit. This was money Sam wanted to draw on while in Europe [MTNJ 3: 624n188; May 16 CJL to SLC]. On what appears to be a separate matter, he also wrote a short note that he’d pay the “other $1000 of the $10000 paid” to him [MTP]. Note: this letter appears to be a fragment.

Sam also wrote James W. Paige, the letter not extant but referred to in Paige’s May 16 to Sam [MTP].