December 16 Wednesday – Frederick J. Hall wrote to Sam about Thomas M. Williams’ desire to undertake sales of LAL:
…the work of his life and he wants to make an agreement that will extend over the next eight or ten years…he thinks there is a fortune for himself and for is in the ‘Library,’ and …he will make the sale of ‘L.A.L.’ the work of his life” [MTLTP 291n1]. See also Sam’s Jan. 25, 1892 to Williams.
December 15 Tuesday – Lucy R. Buck wrote from Front Royal, Va. to Sam with reaction to “Mental Telegraphy” [MTP].
December 14 Monday – Frank A. Burelle for Bureau of Press Clippings responded to Sam’s order that a quote per month would be less than by the article and he would send it [MTP].
Edward Bush wrote to Sam Pennsylvania State College with reaction to “Mental Telegraphy” [MTP].
Harry E. Pratt, Chicago attorney sent his reaction to “Mental Telegraphy” with clipping from the Chicago Inter Ocean [MTP].
December 12 Saturday – Speaker in, “American Professional Humor,” p.705-6 printed a general discussion, ranking Twain with the lower practitioners [Tenney, supplement #3, American Literary Realism, Autumn 1979 p.183].
US Census per Robert P. Porter sent more census forms and flyer from Dept. of Interior [MTP].
Charles H. Payne wrote from N.Y. to Sam with reaction to “Mental Telegraphy” [MTP].
December 11 Friday – In Berlin Sam wrote to Rudolf Lindau of the Foreign Office, thanking him for a dinner which was “too delicious & too exquisite in every way for sinful human beings.” The date of the dinner is not specified, though it was social protocol usually observed by the Clemenses to send a thank you note within a day or two of such events. Since the dinner was in Berlin, a good estimate would be Dec. 9 or 10. Sam had been preparing a corn cob pipe for Lindau’s nephew by soaking it in whiskey.
December 10 Thursday † – Sam and Livy attended a dinner at Rudolf Lindau’s, for which Sam wrote thanks on Dec. 11.
December 9 Wednesday – Rosa E. McQuigg wrote from Ironton, Ohio with her story of “Mental Telegraphy” [MTP].
December 7 Monday – Miss Fannie S. James “a little girl” in Eau St. Claire, Wisc. wrote Sam a delightful letter admiring HF and TS, and even though a girl, she “would like to play with them and get into such scrapes and would be delighted to find twelve thousand dollars.” Would he send autograph? She’d read about Elsie Leslie — “She must be nice. I want to be an author and actress some day” [MTP].
Gertrude M. Denison of Royalton, Vt. wrote Sam a blurb about “Mental Telegraphy” [MTP].
December 6 Sunday – Sam’s second letter from Europe, “At the Shrine of St. Wagner,” ran in McClure’s syndicated newspapers on Dec. 6, 1891, including the N.Y. Sun, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chicago Tribune, and others.
December 4 Friday – Mrs. J.B. Newburgh from Las Cruces, N.M. sent Sam a note and a prospectus relating to his “Telegraphy” article [MTP].