July 15 Friday – Elisha P. Bliss had arrived in Elmira and signed a contract with Sam for a book of Sam’s Western adventures to be completed by Jan. 1, 1871. Sales on Innocents were booming and Bliss wanted to tie Sam up for future books. Sam claimed he began work on Roughing It in a letter he wrote from Elmira to his brother Orion, soliciting names, places and details of their stage trip in 1862. Sam would receive seven and a half percent royalties, vs. the five percent from Innocents Abroad [MTL 4: 171-2]. Note: the contract may be seen in The Mark Twain Quarterly 6.3 (Summer-Fall 1944): 5.