April 22 Friday – The ledger books of Chatto & Windus show that between Apr. 22, 1898 and June 6, 1906, six printings totaling 11,000 additional copies of HF were printed , totaling 43,500 [Welland 236].

The Critic reported a collaboration agreement was struck this day between Sydney Rosenfeld (Sidney) and Mark Twain for a new comedy play. No prior letter or other documentation was found from Rosenfeld, who was visiting in Vienna. See NY Times article Oct. 21, 1900 which announced a meeting between Rosenfeld, Twain and Daniel Frohman to plan the production.

Mr. Sydney Rosenfeld writes from Vienna to The Dramatic Mirror under date of April 22 :–“I have this day concluded an agreement with Mark Twain, who is residing in Vienna, whereby he and I are to work conjointly on a new comedy. He has to-day given me the rough draft of the play as it has emerged from his foundry. . . .

It will probably be with this play that Mr. Sire and I will begin operations together in a business way” [The Critic 29.848 (21 May 1898): 351].

Note: after Clemens’ death, Rosenfeld planned to produce the play planned here, titled The End of the World. It was described in the June 25, 1910 issue of The Argus (Melbourne, Australia). Rosenfeld was quoted as saying: “The play is a humorous extravaganza. It tells the story of a poor astronomer, who for years had been struggling to earn a living by his trade—that is to say, he had been able by laborious work to forecast eclipses of the sun and moon, calculate distances by heavenly bodies, and do those perfunctory jobs that for a mere pittance were required of astronomers to keep body and soul together. The scene is laid, of course, in an imaginary kingdom over which a beautify and haughty queen holds sway.” Rosenfeld also opined that the play was “full of Mark Twain’s humor and unexpected turns” [p.8, “A MARK TWAIN PLAY”].