July 13 Tuesday – In Hartford Sam wrote to Bret Harte asking for his autograph for a collector friend he’d met in London, Charles E. Tisdall, Chancellor of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. Sam wrote Tisdall was “a mighty good fellow—for a Christian” [MTL 6: 507-8].

Sam also wrote to Howells. He offered half of the first $6,000 profits from a stage play of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer that Howells might write. Sam had his “eye upon two young girls who can play ‘Tom’ & ‘Huck’.” Howells wisely declined, both from lack of time and understanding that only Sam could write such a play and do it justice [MTL 6: 509]. Note: see July 19 entry for Howells’ answer.

Sam also wrote to James R. Osgood about William F. Gill using his name either on the cover or the inside of his announced “Treasure-Trove” series. Gill had also used some of Osgood’s writers without permission. Sam claimed that the use of “Mark Twain” without permission was trademark violation, a claim he’d first made in 1873 [MTL 6: 511].