December 3 Thursday – In Cambridge, Mass., Howells wrote Sam that “The fotograf is a wonderful success, and Mrs. Howells and I are exultantly grateful. We’ve got it framed to match Warner’s, and it turns its eagle-eye away from me towards Boston, on my study mantel-piece” [MTHL 1: 46].

In Hartford Sam wrote to Howells, disliking the title “Old Times on the Mississippi,” which he felt was “too pretentious, too broad & general,” and seemed to “command me to deliver a Second Book of Revelation to the world.” He wanted to get the word “pilot” or “piloting” into the title somehow. The title stayed the same but descriptive subtitles were added beginning with the second installment [MTL 6: 303].