April 2 Friday – In his letter of Apr. 4 to Orion, Sam wrote:
“I read before a large audience here, Friday night, but not until all the newspaper men had sworn that they would say not a single word about it, either before or after the performance” [MTLE 5: 65].
April 3 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Melville E. Stone (1848-1929), founder of the first penny newspaper in Chicago, the Chicago Daily News. Evidently Stone inquired about a controversy between a “Mr. Wakeman” and “the Club”—(probably the Press Club of Chicago). Sam offered five corrections to an article, which ran about the Army Reunion [MTLE 5: 63].
April 4 Sunday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Orion, expressing some distress:
Please don’t put anything on exhibition that can even remotely suggest me or my affairs or belongings. How could you conceive of such an idea? God knows my privacy is sufficiently invaded without the family helping in the hellish trade. Keep the cursed portraits at home—keep everything at home that hints at me in any possible way [MTLE 5: 65]. Sam briefly mentioned giving a reading the prior Friday night in Hartford.
April 5 Monday – Sam held the Monday Evening Club in his home and gave a reading “On the Decay of the Art of Lying” [MTLE 5: 62]. This was Sam’s fifth presentation to the club since being elected as a member in 1873 [Monday Evening Club]. There are several references to Francis Parkman’s works, including:
April 6 Tuesday – James Redpath wrote from NYC to Sam, having just returned home. When would Sam be strong enough to “endure a preferential interview?” [MTP].
William A. Talcott wrote to ask Sam if he would participate in “The Round Table,” a discussion group of English and American literature of some six years in NYC. He enclosed a program [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “Another of those fiends. / 1880 / Wants something”.
April 7 Wednesday – Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen wrote from Ithaca, NY to thank Sam for sending TA. “It has occupied me steadily luring the last three days & I have laughed until my voice is husky.” His wife was also reading it and laughing. He sent news of their new baby and their resolve to move to NYC [MTP].
April 8 Thursday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Charles H. Phelps, editor of the Californian, in San Francisco. Sam inquired about a quote in the April issue of the magazine. Who was the “album-owner,” he asked. Was it “Charley Stoddard?” [MTLE 5: 66].
April 10 Saturday – The Chicago Tribune was among the first to review A Tramp Abroad:
Mark Twain has finished another book. As he has been silent for some time possibly the book also finished him….A Tramp Abroad, while interesting reading, and in parts exhibiting much of the humor which gave fame to its author in The Innocents Abroad, is inferior to the latter in some of the qualifications which made that book so unusually successful (“Literature” p9) [Budd, Reviews 183].
April 11 Sunday – Sam wrote from Hartford to his mother, and sister. He and Livy were taking Rosa and the children on a week’s “rest & change of aggravations” to Boston the next day.
“Orion’s head is as full of projects as ever, but there is one merciful provision—he will never stick to one of them long enough to injure himself” [MTLE 5: 68].
April 12? Monday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Howells, including a note from John T. Lewis, the “sable hero” of the runaway carriage incident. Sam sent it as an addition to the story [MTLE 5: 70].
April 13 Tuesday – Frederick J. Boesse (1844-1914) wrote from Americus, Ga. to criticize TA, and Sam’s “blunders” in German, as well as to criticize American habits [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “From a Jewish swine.” Paine later wrote under this “Amen. / A.B.P.”; Boesse was the head of F.J. Bosse & Co, NYC importers of jeweler’s materials. He was born in Germany and lived in Brooklyn for 50 years [NY Times obit Sept. 19, 1914)].
April 14 Wednesday – Mary Keily finished her Mar. 27 letter to Sam [MTP].
April 17 Saturday – The Saturday Review ran a long, mixed critique of TA, finding praise and fault [Budd, Reviews 183-6].
Pamela Moffett wrote to Sam (postmarked Apr. 17), complimenting him on TA; noting that “Ma can’t read as it made her head hurt and they couldn’t read to her since she was hard of hearing.” Also, “Charley has had the clock fever,” buying and restoring old clocks to sell. Did Sam recall the clock at the Quarles farm? [MTP].
April 18 Sunday – Ola A. Smith (b. ca. 1854) wrote from Haverhill, Mass:
Mr. Clemens, / Gracious Sir;–
You are rich. To lose $10.00 would not make you miserable.
I am poor. To gain $10.00 would not make me miserable.
April 19 and 20 Tuesday – In Hartford, Sam wrote to William Dean Howells.
I have just “wrotened” this stuff to-day—as Bay [Clara] says—may-be you may need it to fill up with.
April 20 Tuesday – Sam and Livy purchased a brass fender from C. McCarthy of Boston for $15, showing that they did not leave Boston earlier. The item was billed to Sam on May 13 and paid on May 17 [MTP]. Note: Invoicing and payment were often made long after purchase. Afterward the Clemenses returned home to Hartford.
April 21 Wednesday – Sam finished the letter to Moncure Conway. Sam enclosed Howells’ review of TA. Elisha Bliss was too ill to work so Sam dealt with his son, Frank Bliss, and took it upon himself to order the electros for Chatto, and then wrote Conway [MTLE 5: 75-7].
April 22 Thursday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Frank Fuller. He talked of a “vaporizer” investment (“Mr. Furbish’s stimulant”). “About a fortnight hence,” Sam planned to “run down to Washington for a few days, on a sort of copyright-law project.” Would Frank like to go with him? [MTLE 5: 82].
April 23 Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Hjalmar Boyesen. He thanked Boyesen for “those pleasant praises” of A Tramp Abroad, and expressed surprise that the first quarter sales were going “as great as that of any previous book of mine.” Sam told of giving a reading at Twichell’s church.
April 24 Saturday – Sam received an “unillustrated edition” of A Tramp Abroad from Chatto & Windus. He wrote the next day that it was “very handsome, & the proofs were well read” [MTLE 5: 86].
Walter L. Milliken wrote from Boston to ask for Mark Twain’s autograph [MTP].
April 25 Sunday – Howells answered Sam’s letter and submission of Apr. 22:
“My dear Clemens, I sent the Conversation by Telephone to the printers at once, with orders to set it and send you proofs instantly. It is one of the best things you have done and we both think it shows great skill in the treatment of female character. It’s delicious” [MTHL 1: 303].
April 26 Monday – Sam gave a reading “at a private house” of “A Telephonic Conversation” in Hartford. (See Apr. 23 entry) [MTLE 5: 85; MTPO]. The piece ran in the June 1880 issue of the Atlantic [Budd, “Collected” 1018].
April 27 Tuesday – Evelyn S. Allen, “plain cook” wrote from Buffalo, NY.
April 28 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Lucius Fairchild, congratulating him on being named U.S. minister to Spain [Rees 8; MTLE 5: 88]. Sam related missing a visit with Fairchild’s brother Charles in Boston during their recent weeklong stay there. Sam enclosed a photograph of himself and recalled the “good times we had that day at St.
April 29 Thursday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Howells about sending a copy of the proposed Atlantic piece “A Telephonic Conversation” to an English magazine. Sam enclosed a copy “enveloped & stamped for transmission at the proper time”. Publication of an article first in America and soon after in England would cover copyright considerations.