May 3 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Elisha Bliss about Bliss possibly publishing a book from Edward (Ned) House of the New York Tribune, who was in Japan. Sam enclosed House’s letter. He also announced his book was half done (Roughing It) [MTL 4: 389].
Sam’s letter to the editor, “A Substitute for Rulloff,” dated Apr. 29, ran in the New York Tribune [Camfield, bibliog.; MTPO].
May 5 Friday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Henri Gerard, a boy who sent Sam a copy of his newspaper, the “Comet.” Sam declined to submit material for the paper but praised the boy’s work and sent him a dollar for 3 subscriptions, one of which he sent to his nephew, Sammy Moffett in Fredonia [MTL 4: 389].
May 7 Sunday – Horace Greeley wrote to Sam on NY Tribune letterhead. See MTB p 437 for facsimile of the letter with Greeley’s scrawl and Paine’s comments [MTP].
May 8 Monday – Joe Twichell wrote from Hartford to Sam, opening with what Twain would undoubtedly call “drivel” and then asking what had become of him? “Pray let us hear from you soon” [MTP].
May 11 Thursday – James Florant Meline (1811-1873), author of Two Thousand Miles on Horseback: Santa Fe and Back (1867) wrote from Brooklyn asking for publication help in the form of a letter of introduction to Elisha Bliss [MTP]. Note: not in Gribben.
May 12 Friday – Frank Bliss wrote to Sam, sending a royalty check for $703.35 [MTP].
May 14 Sunday – In a bound scrapbook with autographic comments in Sam’s handwriting, dated 1869, there is an entry with this date. The scrapbook calls for “mental” photographic statements and even has a place for an actual photograph, though none is included in the book. Sam answers a series of questions; this is similar to other “surveys” he answered about his favorites and preferences:
May 15 Monday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Elisha Bliss, acknowledging receipt of $703.35 royalties of some 3,800 sales of IA (Bliss’ letter not extant). The book was going well, and his daily output even exceeded his best on the Innocents book, going over 30 pages of manuscript daily. The inspiration had found Sam and he “couldn’t bear to lose a single moment” of it.
May 17 Wednesday – Elisha Bliss replied to Sam’s May 15.
Your favor recd. Am glad to hear from you. Sorry to hear you are not going to call on us to day. However it may be for the best as I think you are in the mood to do good work, at which I heartily rejoice—
Glad to know you are so pressed with overtures for work.
May 26 Friday – Harriet P. Spofford wrote to Sam [MTP].
May 31 Wednesday – David Gray printed a notice in the Buffalo Courier of Sam’s new book to “be published in the fall and to appear simultaneously in England and America” [MTL 4: 394]. Note: the notice still did not include the title, which had yet to be formulated.
June 1 or 2 Friday – Sam arrived in Hartford and delivered another segment of the Roughing It manuscript [MTL 4: 395].
June 4 Sunday – Sam attended services at Twichell’s church (Asylum Hill Congregational,) and had dinner with Conn. Governor Marshall Jewell (1825-1883) While in Hartford, Sam visited with Orion and Mollie and other Hartford friends [MTL 4: 395].
June 5 Monday – A letter sold on eBay (Sept. 18, 2007; # 270167135431) that puts the Clemens family’s departure for Elmira at June 5. Though dated only “June 5,” the letter could only fit into this date for the entire period from 1870 through 1885:
June 6 Tuesday – Sam was back in Elmira and began work on what would be Chapter 54 of Roughing It, which began by referring to a news item of June 3 in the New York Tribune.
“As I write, news comes in that broad daylight in San Francisco, some boys have stoned an inoffensive Chinaman to death, and that although a large crowd witnessed the shameful deed, no one interfered” [Roughing It, Ch.54].
June 7 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Orion and Mollie.
June 9 Friday – Sam wrote a new lecture, “An Appeal in behalf of Extending the Suffrage to Boys” [MTL 4: 398].
June 10 Saturday – Sam wrote from Elmira to James Redpath & George L. Fall of the Boston Lyceum Lecture Bureau. Showing that he’d given the lecture circuit a great deal of thought from his past experiences. He wrote a list of seventeen items that he would or would not like for a lecture he’d written the day before. He was finally demanding higher prices, bigger towns and cities, and could name his preferences [MTL 4: 398-400].
June 11 Sunday – Sam wrote a most unusual letter from Elmira to his mother, Jane Lampton Clemens—on many scraps of different kinds and colors written on both sides. This was Sam’s way of teasing his mother for writing on any old piece of paper she happened on.
June 12 Monday – Sam wrote from Elmira to James Redpath. Sam agreed to start his lecture tour in the West if Redpath preferred. He asks what “Olive & those other dead beats” were charging (Olive Logan 1839-1909) [MTL 4: 407].
June 13 Tuesday – Francis P. Church of the Galaxy requested an article from Sam, and was rewarded with “About Barbers,” which first appeared in the August edition [MTL 4: 394]. It’s unclear why Sam would accede to such a request, but Church’s approach must have been less insistent than Bliss and Orion’s. Sam sold the piece for $100 [MTL 4: 410].
June 15 Thursday – Sam wrote from Elmira to James Redpath. Sam poured cold water on the idea of a woman reading humorous lectures or doing impersonations on stage. Possibly Redpath had received an offer from Helen Potter to tour with Sam. Helen did impersonations of well-known lecturers like John Gough, Henry Ward Beecher, and others [MTL 4: 408-9].
June 21 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Elisha Bliss, sending him three articles, “$125 for the lot,” payable to Orion at one-tenth of the $125 per week until paid. He wanted Bliss to mention his upcoming lecture and told him to say this:
June 27 Tuesday – Sam wrote two short notes from Elmira to Orion. Sam had written a new lecture that day and wanted Bliss to leave out the talk about the “Suffrage to Boys”. His second note announced he “wrote a third lecture to-day—& tomorrow I go back on the book again.” This last lecture, “Reminiscences of Some Pleasant Characters whom I have Met” was one given later.
June 28 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to James Redpath. This was another list of particulars, prices, and places that Sam dictated terms about [MTL 4: 419-21].