January 12 Friday – With others named below, Sam signed a menu at Young’s Hotel, Boston. This gathering, not formerly reported, was likely a celebration of James R. Osgood’s publishing of P&P and The Stolen White Elephant. The names on the back of the menu are: James R. Osgood, SL Clemens, Wm. S. Draper, Chas. Fairchild, C.H. Colburn (publisher), G. Osgood, Eben Sumner Draper (1858-1914) Governor of Mass., A.V.S. Anthony (engraver), R.H. Ticknor, and Geo. A. Draper (1855-1923) textile industrialist [Cowan’s Auctions, Dec. 6-7, 2007 Item 919]. Note: It is not known which day Sam went to Boston and returned. Thanks to JoDee Benussi.

Robert A. Stigler wrote from Lexington, Miss. Asking for a list of his books and prices [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “Puppy”

Edmund C. Stedman wrote from NYC to Clemens, accepting his “hearty invitation, subject to a telegraphic revoke on Saturday—the 20th inst.” [MTP].

Francis Wayland wrote from N. Haven asking if Sam had a copy of a book he’d reviewed in the Atlantic Monthly of June 1877: Sketches in Palestine (in verse) by Rev. Edward Payson Hammond with portrait [MTP]. Note: Sam’s copy, according to Gribben, was heavily annotated. The writer of the 1877 review identified his home as Ponkapog, Mass., the home of Thomas Bailey Aldrich. So, did Twain write the review? The style doesn’t seem to fit Sam’s of 1877 (See entries for June 1877, June 6, 1877, and Oct. 27, 1879)