March 15 Friday – Bill paid dated Mar. 11 from D.S. Brooks & Sons, Hartford dealer in “hot air furnaces, cooking ranges, stoves and tin ware, low down grates and Marbelized slate mantles”; $18.50 for fireplace grate & pan, fitting [MTP]. Note: A cheery or cozy fire was an important comfort for the Clemens family.

Howells sent Sam his book, Their Wedding Journey (1872) inscribed: “To Mr. Samuel L. Clemens with the regards of W. D. Howells. Cambridge, March 15, 1872” [Gribben 335].