November 24 Friday – Sam lectured in Reading, Penn. – “Artemus Ward.” The theater of Keystone Opera House, as reported by the Berks and Schuylkill Journal of Nov. 25:

Mark Twain, author of “Innocents Abroad,” delivered a lecture on the “Uncommon-place Characters he has met with” at the Keystone Opera House last evening to a full house.”

 The Reading Times and Dispatch for Nov. 25 offered a positive review:

 Mark Twain’s Lecture

A large and appreciative audience greeted Mark Twain last evening to hear his humorous discourse on “Uncommonplace characters I have met.” The lecturer is a modest gentleman, free from all stage affectation, and is perfectly “at home” on the platform. His delivery is not at all unpleasant, as we have been led to believe by some newspaper reports recently published, but is rather suited, we think, to the presentation of a quaint composition such as his lecture is.

[“Mark Twain in Reading: 1871” Historical Review of Berks County 51.2 (Spring 1986): 53-4, 69].