Home at Hartford: Day By Day

December 22 Sunday – Charles D. Poston wrote from Wash. to wish Sam a merry Christmas and a happy new year, thereby “renewing the appearance of many years friendship” [MTP]. See Dec. 28, 1888.

December 22 Monday – Sam’s notebook:

Let Ham drop his indebtedness & 1/20 [3: 597].

Note: William J. Hamersley had not contributed his required on-going funds for the development of the typesetter, so Sam suggested forgiving the indebtedness and reducing Hamersley’s ownership share from 1/10th to 1/20th. In a later entry Sam wrote that the 1/20th from Hamersley should be given to Joe Goodman.

December 23 Tuesday – Sam ordered the Nov. 1879 St. Nicholas: A Magazine for Boys and Girls and a Jan. to Dec. 1880 subscription to Scribner’s Monthly, both  from Scribner & Co. of New York [Gribben 599, 619; Receipt at MTP dated Dec. 29].

December 23 Friday – Livy wrote from Hartford to Charles Webster about shipping Christmas gifts and packages shipped. She added that Sam was gone [MTBus 181]. He returned later this day from Philadelphia since he sent an unidentified person this aphorism: “Never put off till tomorrow what can be done day after tomorrow just as well” [MTP].

December 23 Saturday – The New York Times reported on p.1 the banquet and Sam’s speech of the previous night:

[Mark Twain delivered] an address which kept the tables in a roar for a quarter of an hour. The speaker brought his words out in an indescribable drawl, and puffed a cloud of smoke from his cigar between every two sentences [MTNJ 2: 505n240].

This day or shortly after, Sam returned home to Hartford.

December 23 Sunday – Orion and Mollie Clemens wrote to Clemens & Livy: who was Ben? Christmas presents & wishes [MTP]. Note: “Ben” was a nickname for Clara.

December 23 Tuesday – Sam wrote two letters from Hartford to Charles Webster. Sam enclosed an advertisement by Estes & Lauriat of Boston for “Just ready” copies of HF, reduced from $2.75 to $2.25; Sam was infuriated.

      Charley, if this is a lie, let Alexander & Green sue them for damages instantly. And if we have no chance at them in law, tell me at once & I will publish them as thieves & swindlers.

December 23 Wednesday – Julian Hawthorne wrote, Hawthorne to Author’s Club before Dec. 10 enclosed. He enclosed a notice that balloting on Will Carleton would be postponed until after Dec. 31. Hawthorne’s tiny hand shows he agreed and thanked Sam for his proxy and letter [MTP].

December 23 Thursday – Samuel Moffett wrote from Berkeley, Calif. To his Uncle Sam. He announced he would be married in the spring, and sent gifts:

I send some little Christmas things for the children although it is rather late. I have been so busy that it has been impossible to do it before. The shells are for Susy, the Chinese shoes and wooden envelopes for Clara and a little coin of California pictures for Jean [MTP].

December 23 Friday – In Hartford Sam wrote to William Malcom Bunn (W.M. Bunn) (1842-1923), ex-territorial Governor of Idaho (1884-5), now a well known lawyer, after dinner speaker, clubman and art collector of Philadelphia. Evidently Bunn requested 25 lines from Sam on some subject, giving him only two days to provide them.

December 23 Monday – In Hartford Sam wrote to William Dean Howells.

The magazine [Harper’s] came last night, & the Study notice [“Editor’s Study” review of CY] is just great. The satisfaction it affords me could not be more prodigious if the book deserved every word of it: & maybe it does; I hope it does, though of course I can’t realize it & believe it. But I am your grateful servant, anyway & always.

December 23 Tuesday – In Hartford Sam wrote a letter to the editor of the New York World, which was published on Christmas day:

It is my heart-warm and world-embracing Christian hope and aspiration that all of us — the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the admired, the despised, the loved, the hated, the civilized, the savage — may eventually be gathered together in a heaven of everlasting rest and peace and bliss — except the inventor of the telephone. MARK TWAIN / Hartford, Dec. 23

December 24 Wednesday – Livy recited “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” for Susy and Clara.  Sam, wearing a Santa Claus beard, rushed into the room and told the girls stories about his old times and travels [Powers, MT A Life 433].

December 24 Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Frank Bliss to order several books for the Camoēns Library in Portugal as a contribution, in care of the Consul General of Portugal in New York City [MTLE 5: 223].

December 24 Saturday – A short note “The New England Dinner – Mark Twain’s Regrets” ran on the front page of the Hartford Courant [Courant.com].

Nathaniel J. Burton wrote from Hartford, a heartfelt thanks to Sam for sending his new book [MTP].

December 24 Monday – Annie M. Barnes for Atlanta Acanthus wrote asking what he’d like to do for their juvenile publication enterprise [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “Beggary”

December 24 Wednesday – Edward Zane Carroll Judson (Ned Buntline) wrote to Clemens:

My Dear—Two Fathoms—/ A Merry Christmas / to you—merrier than when / we met in Cal. & Nevada / years—long years ago, / in 67—& 68. / Will you / Kindly tell me the names / of the Subscription / Book Publishers / in your town. I have / a job for some one / of ‘em. / Resp. & Truly / E Z C Judson / “Ned” [MTP].

December 24 Thursday – From New York City, Sam sent best wishes to Joe and Harmony Twichell:

“Livy & I love you both, & fervently wish you a long & happy life, & eventually a sufficient family” [MTP]. Note: The Twichells had NINE children.

Sam also wrote to Francis Wayland, dean of Yale Law School, asking if he knew Warner T. McGuinn (1859-1937), a Negro student there:

December 24 Friday – Edward H. House wrote to Sam:

December 24 Saturday – In Hartford, Sam answered a letter (not extant) from Dana Estes (1840-1909), of Estes & Lauriat, Boston booksellers. Estes offered membership to Sam in a group working for copyright protection, something Sam was already involved in the Authors Copyright League of New York, and had no time to add another organization to his docket.

December 24 Monday – Frederick J. Hall for Webster & Co. wrote to Sam.

December 24 Tuesday – The Prince and the Pauper stage play opened at the Park Theater in Philadelphia, managed by Daniel Frohman and staged by David Belasco. Elsie Leslie, the child actor, starred in the dual roles. The engagement ran about four weeks. Fatout writes:

December 24 Wednesday – In Hartford Sam wrote to James W. Paige, inviting him to “come out here day after tomorrow (Friday)” (Dec. 26) to discuss a new contract. Senator John P. Jones was to leave California for the East right after Christmas and Sam felt it best that he and Paige make an agreement “more satisfactory than the present contract” before Jones arrived. Sam enclosed another of those analyses of em rates, proof-corrections and overall costs per 1000 ems taking into account such factors as gas, wages, labor, etc [MTP].

December 25 Thursday – Christmas ­– Susy Clemens received a copy of Alvan Bond’s Young People’s Illustrated Bible History (1878) from her grandmother, Olivia Lewis Langdon [Gribben 77]. Sam received a copy of Moritz Busch’s Bismark in the Franco-German War 1870-1871 from his nephew, Samuel Moffett [Gribben 119].

December 25 Saturday – Christmas – Sam purchased two tickets for La Morte Civile (The Civil Death) starring the Italian actor Tommaso Salvini (1829-1915), which played one night, Thursday, Dec. 30 [Hartford Courant, Dec. 27 p2. “This Week’s Entertainments”]. Note: from 1873 to 1889 Salvini made five trips to the U.S.