August 5 Tuesday – Reginald Cholmondeley wrote to Sam: “I shall be happy to see you & Mrs Clemens at the end of August or beginning of September with your little girl & I will ask Tom Hughes & his wife to meet you” [MTP]. Note: This labeled Aug. 6 but date is written over; could be either.
August 6 Wednesday – From Livy’s diary:
“This afternoon at three o’clock Dr. Brown is coming to take us for a drive; he is the most charming old gentleman and I believe grows more and more so all the time” [Salsbury 23].
August 8 and 9 Saturday – Sam and Livy visited Abbotsford and Melrose with Alexander Russel (1814-1876), a friend of Dr. John Brown’s, and an editor for the Edinburgh Scotsman, a paper with a circulation of 40,000.
August 11 Monday – From Livy’s diary:
“It is real hard to have the exchange so heavy—think of taking $3000 and only having $2500 when you get here—If I was sure our house would not exceed $20 or $25,000 I would spend more here, because we shall want the things when we get into our new house” [Salsbury 23].
August 15 Friday – Livy wrote her mother of travel plans, which were changed in another letter written this day to Jane Clemens and Pamela Moffett. Livy then wrote they would stay in Edinburgh until “next week when we shall go to Glasgow for a day or two and then sail for Ireland where we shall be for about two weeks and then back to London.” No letters from Sam between Aug. 4 and Sept.
August 16 to 19 Tuesday – James Ahern worked on the plumbing at the Clemens home in Hartford, billing them $11.16 for work done [MTP].
August 18 Monday – Alex Nicolson sent a reprint of his “A Highland Marching Song” from the Inverness Courier of June 13, 1872 [MTP].
August 24 Sunday – Livy wrote to Susan Crane that they were leaving Edinburgh the next day. “we do so regret leaving Dr. Brown and his sister, thinking that we shall probably never see them again” [MTL 5: 431-2]. From Livy’s diary of Aug. 31:
August 25 Monday – The Clemenses went to Glasgow, Scotland, where they stayed two days [MTL 5: 432].
August 28 Thursday – Sam and party left Glasgow for Belfast, Ireland, experiencing a rough ferry boat ride where everyone except Sam got seasick. The family reached Belfast about 8 PM and took dinner with Francis Dalzell Finlay (1832?-1917), son-in-law to Alexander Russel [MTL 5: 432]. Finlay was the owner of The Northern Whig until 1875. According to his son, in a letter printed in the Oct.
August 30 Saturday – In Belfast, Frank Finlay inscribed Prize Essays on “Billiards as an Amusement for all Classes,” James Galt & Co. (1873) to Sam [Gribben 561]. Finlay also inscribed editor Charles Rogers’ The Centenary Garland [etc.,] to Livy [585]. Thus the Clemens family must have spent the nights of Aug. 28, 29 and 30 in Belfast.
September 1 Monday – The Clemens family went to Dublin, where they took rooms at the Shelbourne Hotel for several days, probably until Sept. 5 or 6 [MTL 5: 432].
September 2 Tuesday – The first boxed set of “Authors” card game with Mark Twain included was patented by West & Lee Co. of Worcester, Mass. [eBay Nov. 11, 2009 Item # 320446989875]. Note: several items listed about Mark Twain on the back of the card postdate the patent date.
September 5? To 8 Monday – The Clemens party took a ferry across the Irish Sea to Liverpool, and then traveled south to Chester some twenty miles. From Chester they went further south another thirty-five miles to Shrewsbury, where they were the guests of Reginald Cholmondeley (1826-1896) at Condover Hall. Sam wrote an account of Cholmondeley’s invitation. Sam used the name “Bascom” in Ch.
September 9 Tuesday – Sam and family returned to London [MTL 5: 432]. Livy was homesick, but Sam had not yet received proofs of GA: Paine quotes Livy’s diary:
September 10 Wednesday – Sam wrote a short from London to William S. Andrews (1841-1912), about being home in plenty of time to help Andrews prepare for an appearance at Association Hall in New York [MTL 5: 434-5].
September 19 Friday – Sam dated his double signature with “London” to an unidentified person [liveauctioneers.com/item/104701; Sept. 6, 2003].
September 20 Saturday – Dr. John Brown sent a small printed folder with two poems, no letter [MTP].
The closed. New York Stock Exchange It would stay closed for ten days. This began the Great Depression of 1873, the longest in US history; it lasted through the spring of 1879 and caught Sam in a financial bind when his NY bank, Henry Clews & Co. froze funds.
September 21 Sunday – In London, Sam wrote to his mother, Jane Clemens and family all about sealskin coats he’d obtained or ordered for Jane Clemens, Pamela Moffett, and Charles Langdon. Sam boasted of saving about fifteen or twenty dollars each by buying wholesale through an “old friend.” He added:
September 22 Monday – Dr. John Brown wrote to Sam
September 23 Tuesday – Sam wrote a short query to the editor of Punch, Charles William Shirley Brooks (1816-1874), and asked if he might send a short article [MTL 5: 442]. Note: Sam’s note has been surmised by the MTP as relating to the unpublished “About a Visit to the Doré Gallery in London” [MTL 5: 442n1]. Brooks’ response, if any, is not extant; nor did any Twain article appear in Punch.
September 24 Wednesday – In the evening after the theater, Sam and Livy learned of the suspension of funds at their New York bank, Henry Clews & Co. [Willis 85]. It wasn’t until early Jan. 1874 that the bank was able to resume business and pay all obligations in full. In 1886, however, Sam continued to believe that Clews had cheated him out of money [MTL 5: 441n3].
September 25 or 26 Friday – Sam sent a postcard from London to Henry Lee, accepting his invitation to visit the Brighton Aquarium, and asking that he wait about the plans to visit Paris until they saw him [MTL 5: 443].
September 27 Saturday – Sam and Livy revisited the Brighton Aquarium. Sam had a head cold. Both Livy and Sam were anxious about getting money from their New York bank, Henry Clews & Co. Sam suggested borrowing from Routledge & Sons [MTL 5: 443-4n1].
September 29 Monday – Sam sent a note and letter from the Langham to Louisa P. MacDonald, wife of George MacDonald and mother of eleven children. The communications were about invitations and missing Louisa when they called.
“…we just barely missed you both, & were so disappointed! And out of eleven children we couldn’t scare up even one” [MTL 5: 444-5].