December 16 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Howells, again about the “Library of Humor” book.
No, don’t keep the check—collect the check & keep the money…you & I will probably be bald & toothless before the Library is published; for if I get the two books I am expecting to get, they will come in ahead & shove the Library along a couple of years; & by that time other books will intervene again & keep shoving it along.
December 17 Thursday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Charles Webster about the death mask mess, which Sam feared was an impending scandal that would damage book sales “a hundred thousand dollars’ worth.” Gerhardt was “obdurate” about demanding $17,000 for the mask. Sam thought a quick lawsuit would settle things [MTP].
December 18 Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford to his mother, Jane Clemens, hoping she was healthier and telling of Livy’s plans for the family to visit Keokuk in the spring, if possible [MTP].
December 19 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Edward House about Grant’s Memoirs. “As I was expecting, the book has instantly taken literary rank at the summit of its class of literature” [MTP].
December 20 Sunday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Charles Webster, stressing the importance of securing a contract with Mrs. Grant for the publication, now planned a year ahead, of General Grant’s letters to his wife. Sam was afraid there’d be a demand for an even higher royalty or an offer to take in Fred Grant as a partner. Did Webster want Sam “to come down & ask for the letters?” Or, simply to come and consult about a plan.
December 21 Monday – Sam wrote a short note from New York City to Charles Webster, directing him to re-ship a Memoirs, vol. 1 to Mrs. W. M. Laffan, as the first one was lost, and to send tree-calf books to Mrs. Grant for her autograph [MTP].
December 22 Tuesday – The N.Y. Times article of Dec. 5, 1886 recalls this previous New England Society Dinner and the “Trick” Sam played on William M. Evarts. This is in the 1886 entry, but should also be in the Dec. 22, 1885 entry. Sam was in New York on that day, though the 1885 Times article covering the dinner says nothing of Sam or Evarts.
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 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 25 Friday – Christmas – Sam also inscribed six volumes (originally three but rebound) of Our Living World by Rev. John George Wood, adapted by Joseph B. Holder, M.D., to daughter Clara: In volumes 1, 2, and 4: “Clara Clemens / Christmas /1885. / From Papa”; in volume 3: “ Clara Ben Clemens / Christmas / 1885.
December 26 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Howells, who wrote Dec. 20 that “Mrs. Howells doesn’t foresee her way” to come for the P&P play Sam and the children were re-staging in January, but that he would come and bring his daughter, Mildred (Pilla), a friend of Susy’s and Clara’s. Sam responded.
December 27 Sunday – Charles J. Langdon wrote to Sam & Livy, “hard to sit down and write an acknowledgment of those xmas gifts you and the dear children sent me…I was deeply touched” [MTP].
December 28 Monday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Jervis II, Julia O., and Ida Langdon, his nephew and nieces, thanking them for the “Spain” book, which Sam,
“…more wanted than any other book that could be named. It gives me nightly peace, now, & I think of you when I read it. / We have all been skating on the river today; no, Susy hasn’t; she has a sore throat; but the other three of us had a good time” [MTP].
December 29 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Mr. Handy, declining an offer of some sort.
“What with business & idleness unsystematically mixed, I seem to have to keep humping myself all the time” [MTP]. Note: Handy is not further identified. The famous songwriter by that name would have only been 12 years old.
December 30 Wednesday – In Auburndale, Mass., Howells wrote to Sam that the “Library of Humor” was complete “except about 10 or 20 short biographical notes that” he could “readily attend to; that Clark’s work was done, and well done….” Howells repeated that he and his daughter would be there on Jan. 13 for the P&P play [MTHL 2: 549]. Note: it’s likely this letter reached Sam on the last day of the year.
December 31 Thursday – Sam noted:
I’m out of the woods. On the last day of the year I had paid out $182,000 on the Grant book and it was totally free from debt [Salsbury 216 from Harpers].
William C. Prime wrote from NYC. “I heartily appreciate your great kindness. I would much rather call on you at your convenienc, than to give you the trouble of fulfilling an appointment at meine [MTP].
January – Sam began serious work on Connecticut Yankee during the month, reading excerpts to his family in February.
January 1 Friday – In Hartford Sam sent a note to Anna Abrams, “With the compliments of the season” [MTP].
January 2 Saturday – Jervis Langdon, Jr. wrote to Sam and Livy, thanking them both for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, which he thought “a very beautiful book….The story seems as interesting and funny as the pictures” [MTP].
William J. Hamersley wrote that they “had better decide pretty soon – whether or not we want to see a type setter charter…” he also wished a happy New Year [MTP].
January 3 Sunday – In Hartford Sam sent a short note to Charles Hopkins Clark of the Hartford Courant, and an ally on the “Library of Humor” project, wishing him “Happy New Year’s!” and observing about past communications on the “Library” book:
You perceive that nothing — in Howells’s opinion — is necessary but a selection from his own humor; then the book will be finished [MTP].
January 4 Monday – Frank B. Darby, Sam’s Elmira dentist, wrote and sent Sam some artwork. He answered Darby’s letter on Jan. 10. Note: Extracts of Darby’s reminiscences of the 1840s to 1895 in Elmira can be found online: http://www.rootsweb.com/~nychenan/raft-rr2.htm and also in some modern reprints of Mildred Cochrane’s A History of the Town of Greene, Chenango County, New York.
January 5 Tuesday – H. Harris for Star Lecture Course wrote to Sam asking, “Can I say anything to you that will induce you to make an appearance in Phila this coming season under the auspices of ‘The Star Course’”? Harris had an opening on Feb. 28, “just two years since your last appearance here.” He referred to a performance with George W. Cable.
January 6 Wednesday – Witness to the worldwide notoriety and love for Mark Twain is this article printed in the North Otago Times in New Zealand:
MARK TWAIN
January 7 Thursday – William D. Howells wrote Sam a postcard, confirming he and his daughter would leave Boston at 3 p.m. Jan. 13 and reach the Clemens’ house at 7 [MTHL 2:550].
January 8 Friday – Richard Watson Gilder for Century Magazine wrote to Sam enclosing two letters objecting to Sam’s recent Century contributions. Gilder challenged Sam: