January 2 Wednesday – Sam and Livy went to the Hartford Opera House with Lilly Warner to see Howells’ play, A Counterfeit Presentment. Charles Dudley Warner’s unsigned review of the play in the Hartford Courant was positive, comparing Howells’ writing with Goldoni’s “pure comedy of unexaggerated real life” [MTHL 2: 217n2].
January 4 Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Howells that his play, A Counterfeit Presentment, was “enchanting. I laughed & cried all the way through it” [MTLE 3: 1]. The play ended in Boston. Howells wrote more than 30 works for the theater and this was his best, though only moderately successful.
January 6 Sunday – In Cambridge, Mass., Howells wrote to thank Sam for his Jan. 4 letter praising the play. Howells was discouraged by the play’s draw in New England and didn’t suppose it paid expenses in Worcester, Providence, Springfield or Hartford; and he didn’t blame Lawrence Barrett for withdrawing. Howells supplied some feedback from the Brahmins to whom Sam had written apologies for Whittier’s birthday debacle:
January 7 Monday – The New York Sun, on page 2, ran a spurious interview titled, “Mark Twain’s Enterprise / The Celebrated Humorist Takes Editorial Charge of the Hartford COURANT.” This was a false report that Sam had become editor of the Courant based on the fact of the telephone line connected to his home from the newspaper’s offices (See Jan. 24 entry to Daggett.) [Budd, “Interviews” 1].
January 10 Thursday – Phineas T. Barnum wrote from Bridgeport to Sam: “This is a begging letter! Awful!! … Now my dear boy I come to you for a character!” he hoped it was not in vain [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “Answered Jany 13th/78”. Phineas wanted Sam to create a character useable for Barnum’s shows. Sam’s reply is not extant, but evidently he declined; see Barnum’s Jan. 14 follow up.
January 11 Friday – The New York Times reported on:
THE ONE THOUSANDTH PERFORMANCE OF
MARK TWAIN’S DRAMA—AN EXCEPTIONALLY INTELLIGENT JURY
January 12 Saturday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Kate V. Austin of Richmond, Indiana, who was trying to verify a rumor that Sam would gain ownership of another newspaper. Sam wrote that this rumor was “not only untrue but absolutely & permanently impossible” [MTLE 3: 2]. Note: it’s uncertain why Sam was in Elmira at this time.
Slote, Woodman & Co. wrote to Sam with a breakdown on amounts due him for Scrap Book sales, totaling $1,071.57 [MTP].
January 13 Sunday – Sam wrote to Phineas T. Barnum, answering Barnum’s request that Sam create a character for his use. Sam’s letter is not extant but referred to in Barnum’s Jan. 14 reply.
January 14 Monday – Phineas T. Barnum wrote a scrawled letter to Sam, “All right …It’s only a matter of taste anyhow—& I am content” [MTP]. Note: see Barnum’s request, Jan. 10.
January 16 Wednesday – The Hartford Society of Decorative Arts, in which Livy was active, opened the doors to their new art school in the Cheney Building (See June, 1877 entry, and Elizabeth Normen’s article on the web at http://www.hogriver.org/issues/v01n04/art_school.htm)
January 17 Thursday – George H. Selkirk wrote to Sam:
Friend Mark. / I am now in hope of commencing soon to pay on my indebtedness to you. I have been unfortunate in my newspaper experience, and part of what I have already paid you I had to borrow from my father. I am now giving all my attention to the job printing business, which opens and promises well. Let me pay on your claim against me as I can at the coal office here… [MTP].
January 18 Friday – Edward Lauterbach (1844-1923) NY attorney telegrammed asking Clemens to lecture for a private club in NY for $150 on Saturday evening Jan. 26. He followed it up with a letter the following day [MTP]. Note: evidently Sam telegraphed an answer, judging from Lauterbach’s reply on Jan. 19; on Jan. 26 Sam spoke at Geselischaft Harmonic in NYC.
January 19 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Charles Heber Clark (Max Adeler or John Quill, 1847-1915), a humorous journalist who had evidently asked if Sam was a millionaire.
January 20 Sunday – Joseph G. Hickman (b. 1838) wrote from Florida, Mo. to Sam.
Mr Saml Clemens—
January 21 Monday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Chatto & Windus, his English publishers, with corrections for Punch Brothers, Punch! And Other Sketches; that the article would be in the March issue of Atlantic, released Feb. 15 [MTLE 3: 4].
January 23 Wednesday – Frank E. Bliss sent a statement wth a balance due Sam of $844 [MTP].
January 24 Thursday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Frank Bliss, sending his compliments that he’d done “exceedingly well. Looks like a decided improvement in business…” [MTLE 3: 6]. Since Sam usually wrote to Frank for accounts of royalties, evidently Sam had received reports and checks that showed an improvement of book sales.
January 25 Friday – O.S. Chamberlain wrote from NYC to ask Sam to lecture [MTP].
January 26 Saturday – Sam gave a speech at the Geselischaft Harmonic in New York City. The text is not available [Schmidt]. Note: see Jan. 18 & 19 from Edward Lauterbach.
The New York Sun ran a comic piece correcting its Jan. 7 article. The new piece was titled, “Not Quite an Editor / The Story of Mark Twain’s Connection with the HARTFORD COURANT” [Budd, “Interviews” 1].
January 27 Sunday – Sam returned this day or the next from New York to Hartford [MTLE 3: 10].
Henry Watterson wrote from Davenport, Ia., having “just laid down ‘Tom Sawyer,’ and can not resist the pressure. It is immense!” He also asked for Twain’s autograph [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “Watterson, editor Louisville Courier Journal / Autograph”.
January 28 Monday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Orion, that he was “just back from New York tired to death” but cleared up the “joke” about being connected with the Hartford Courant [MTLE 3: 10].
Charles M. Pulham wrote as chairman of the entertainment committee for the NY Press Club. He hoped Sam would help them out again on Feb. 25th [MTP].
January 30 Wednesday – T.C. Marsh, cigar merchant, Cambridge, Ohio, wrote to ask if he might use Twain’s picture cut in his advertisements. He enclosed two small flyers on green paper done for the “Nasby” Cigar, showing his intent [MTP].
January 31 Thursday – C.A. Patterson wrote from Vernon Junction, Ohio to beg for a job as his wife was dying. He was currently working as a telegraph operator [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env.,“Curiosity”
About this day Clemens wrote to Daniel Slote, inclosing MS. for publication. The note, if any, is not extant, but the MS. is referred to by Slote’s Feb. 1 reply.
February – In Hartford Sam wrote to an unidentified “friend in Detroit denying the charge that he is lazy. Instead of being lazy, he says, he has no less than four books under way, with the title of each nicely written out in a plain hand and the first chapters headed off” [MTPO: “Recent Changes,” Jan. 20, 2009: Washington Post, Feb. 26, 1878].
Sam signed an identification card that was either some sort of template, or for some sort of whimsy [Live auctioneers, Sept. 28, 2004, lot 0162]. See insert.
February 1 Friday – Dan Slote for Slote, Woodman & Co. wrote to Sam. “Yours containing manuscripts &c received. / Woodman is away to day, but will be on hand to morrow, when I will confer with him relative to publishing— / Did you conclude the terms on which you desire we should publish as you say nothing about them in yours just at hand—” [MTP].