Submitted by scott on

May  After reaching an agreement with the Galaxy on payment and copyright, Sam’s first articles for “Memorandum” were published in the May issue. They included: “Introductory,” “George Wakeman,” “About Smells,” “Disgraceful Persecution of a Boy,” “The Story of a Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper,” and short, miscellaneous items (includes: “Professor Silliman and the Coal Mine”; City of Hartford; Oneida; Engagement Rings; “Cain and the Feejee Islander”). Note: Budd lists “City of Hartford” as first having no title, then titled, “Misplaced Confidence” [“Collected” 1010; MTP]. From “Introductory”:

P.S.—1. I have not sold out of the “Buffalo Express,” and shall not, neither shall I stop writing for it. This remark seems necessary in a business point of view.

2. These MEMORANDA are not a “humorous” department [Schmidt].

First appearing in the Galaxy “The Facts in the Case of the Great Beef Contract,” a satire on government bureaucracy, something Sam never had trouble satirizing [Budd, “Collected” 1010]. Paine notes that Sam wrote the article three years before and mislaid it [MTB 404]. Note: reprinted May 7, 1870 in the Sacramento Daily Union as “A Famous Beef Contract, etc.”

Day By Day Acknowledgment

Mark Twain Day By Day was originally a print reference, meticulously created by David Fears, who has generously made this work available, via the Center for Mark Twain Studies, as a digital edition.   

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