May 20 Thursday – Independent included an anonymous review of American Claimant and Other Stories and Sketches, (volume 21 of the Uniform Edition) p.650. In full:

“Mark Twain is always amusing, but he is often-times more; he can be very entertaining in a serious way. Some of these stories are strikingly good. The ‘£1,000,000 Bank Note’ is capital, not making a pun, and he is a stupid reader who does not follow it breathlessly. ‘A Curious Experience,’ which we enjoyed some years ago in a magazine, is a captivating piece of work. The initial story, ‘The American Claimant,’ is more in Mark Twain’s earlier vein. We like it in spots, but it is unequal. Colonel Sellers appears here somewhat fallen away from what he was in the ‘Gilded Age’” [Tenney: “A Reference Guide Sixth Annual Supplement,” American Literary Realism, Spring 1982 p. 8].

Before May 21 Friday – At 23 Tedworth Square in London, Sam wrote asking Andrew Chatto if the house lease expired on July 3 or July 1 [MTP]. Note: a June 29 note to Douglas Garth with check for an extra week, would answer for July 1 expiration date. Also, Sam noted on July 8 that the family took rooms at the Hans Crescent Hotel.