November 5 - Opera House, New Haven, Connecticut
November 6 - Music Hall, Orange, New Jersey
November 7 - Gilmore's Opera House, Springfield, Massachusetts
November - 8 - Blackstone Hall, Providence, Rhode Island
November 10 - Town Hall, Melrose, Massachusetts
November 11 - Huntington Hall, Lowell, Massachusetts
November 12 - Rumford Hall, Waltham, Massachusetts
November 5, 1884 to February 28, 1885 – Mark Twain and George Washington Cable went on a grand tour,” Twins of Genius” tour, with over 100 engagements, managed by James B. Pond. Sam read and delivered passages from numerous works including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Celebrated Jumping Frog, and others. Cable read from Dr. Sevier and sang Creole songs.
Luckily both men wrote their wives almost daily, and most of those letters have survived.
November 6 Thursday – The “Twins of Genius Tour” continued with a reading at Music Hall, Orange, N.J. Clemens included: “A Telephonic Conversation,” “Col. Sellers in a New Role,” “ A Dazzling Achievement,” “Tragic Tale of the Fishwife,” “A Trying Situation,” “A Ghost Story,” and “A Sure Cure” [MTPO].
On Nov. 7, Cable wrote to his wife, “Had a great success in Orange last night.”
November 8 Saturday – Sam and Cable gave a reading in Blackstone Hall, Providence, Rhode Island. Cable’s Nov. 9 to Lucy:
November 9 Sunday – In Providence, R.I. Sam wrote to Charles Webster, advising that Pond would “presently begin to render his weekly-or-whatever-it-is account to you, accompanied by money.” Sam wanted these funds untouched and if Webster needed money to apply for it and Sam would draw on Elmira or Hartford banks. Gilder of the Century was “profoundly indebted” to Sam for recommending
November 10 Monday – Sam and Cable gave a reading in Town Hall, Melrose, Mass. Cardwell says “The polishing of the readings begun in New Haven was continued in other small towns, including …Melrose” [16]. Extra seats had to be brought in for the large crowd. The next day the Boston Morning Journal reported at length on the performance, describing Twain’s humor as “purely American” [16].
November 11 Tuesday – Sam and Cable gave a reading in Huntington Hall, Lowell, Mass. Clemens included “Toast to Babies,” and “Encounter with an Interviewer” [MTPO].
November 12 Wednesday – Sam and Cable gave a reading in Rumford Hall, Waltham, Mass. [MTPO].
Sam wrote from Lowell, Mass. to Livy:
November 13 Thursday – Here was the first big test in a big city—Boston. Pond placed advertisements in the Evening Transcript several days in advance, starting with Nov. 8. He presented the reading as part of the lyceum lecture series. The focus of these ads became the standard for the tour—“Twain is a comedian; Cable a master of humor and pathos” [Cardwell 17].
November 14 Friday – Boston papers reviewed the performance of the previous evening—The Transcript, the Globe, the Journal, and the Post. The Globe compared Cable to Dickens and praised Twain for his struggle with the German language, his trying conversation with the young lady in the hotel dining room at Lucerne, and his ghost story.
November 15 Saturday – The Boston Daily Advertiser touted George W. Cable as a southern gentleman, Sam as a Connecticut resident—adding the Civil War reconciliation aspect, a “literary bridging of the bloody chasm” and a “rostrum of rapproachment of Louisiana and Connecticut” [Lorch 164].
Sam and Cable gave a matinee reading in Boston [Turner, MT & GWC 59].
November 16 Sunday – Cardwell says Sam was in Providence, R.I. on this day, and Cable “presumably had one or two days at home in Simsbury” [19]. Sam must have continued on to Hartford, because he wrote from there to James B.
November 17 Monday – Sam and Cable gave a reading in Plainfield, N.J. [MTPO]. He did not read in Elmira as planned.
Sam wrote from Hartford to Orion, who evidently had sent him some poetry and a check. The check was acknowledged and Sam added this about Orion’s poetry:
November 18 Tuesday – Sam and Cable gave a reading in Chickering Hall, New York City. Cardwell calls the houses “well-filled” and that Pond ran the same advertisements leading up to the three New York performances [19]. Included: “King Sollermun,” “Tragic Tale of the Fishwife,” “A Trying Situation,” and “A Ghost Story” [MTPO].
November 19 Wednesday – Sam and Cable gave two readings in Chickering Hall, New York City. From The New York Times, Nov. 19, 1884:
GENIUS AND VERSATILITY.
MR. CABLE EXHIBITS BOTH AND MARK TWAIN SOMETHING ELSE.
November 20 Thursday – Sam and Cable gave a reading in Newburgh, New York.
Sam wrote a letter marked “Confidential” from Hartford to William N. Woodruff, Hartford machinist and contractor, about the Nathan Hale statue competition for the Conn. State Capitol [MTP]. Gerhardt won the competition in Mar. 1885 [Perry 168; Schmidt]. (See MTNJ 3:179n6 for more about Woodruff.)
November 21 Friday – Sam and Cable gave a reading in Association Hall in Philadelphia. Included: “King Sollermun,” “Tragic Tale of the Fishwife,” “A Trying Situation,” and “A Ghost Story” [MTPO].
Sam wrote from Philadelphia to Livy:
“Livy darling, a most noble big audience, & a most prodigious good time.
We are to be here again Wednesday afternoon & evening, 26th —the day before thanksgiving.
November 22 Saturday – Sam and Cable left Philadelphia and traveled to Brooklyn, where they gave two performances at the Academy of Music. The Brooklyn Eagle called it “The Literary Event of the Season” [p.5]. Henry Ward Beecher and Dean Sage and wife were in the audience.
November 23 Sunday – Sam and Cable left New York early on their way to Washington, D.C. [Turner, MT & GWC 60].
Sam mentioned in his Nov. 21 letter to Livy that he enjoyed letters from his daughters. He answered and wrote from New York to Clara Clemens (“Ben”).
November 24 Monday – Thomas Nast invited Sam to spend time with him since Sam and Cable were to lecture in Morristown, New Jersey on Thanksgiving eve.
“Or, if you cannot spend so much time here we can give you a substantial tea at six or seven. Do you require reinforcing after the lecture is over? That was always my hungry time” [MTP].
November 25 Tuesday – In the evening, Sam and Cable gave a second reading in Congregational Church, Washington, D.C. The Washington Post printed a very positive review of the previous night, and announced that President Grant would attend the reading this night.
November 26 Wednesday – Sam and Cable left Washington for Philadelphia, where they gave a reading in Association Hall. In the evening, they gave a reading in Morristown, New Jersey and spent the night at the home of Thomas Nast, just before Nast began his own tour. The cartoonist arranged for them a quiet supper…Oysters on the shell were served at the little repast, and Mr.
November 27 Thursday – Livy’s 39th birthday.
Sam and George W. Cable left the Nast home in Morristown, New Jersey on Thanksgiving morning [Paine, Nast 512]. Once again, Sam was away from home on a family member’s birthday. Willis describes Livy’s Hartford life at the time:
November 28 Friday – Sam wrote on board the train from Washington to Livy [MTP]: