March 6 Saturday – Orion finished his Feb. 28 and Mar. 5 letter to Sam. “In thinking over the past is it best to say, If this event had not occurred a train of events would have ensued whose end would not be misplaced by some unforeseen intervening occurrence?” [MTP]. Note: Orion’s letters were often a mixture of family and local goings-on, rooting for Sam, and this sort of splash of philosophical wonderings.
August 8 Saturday – In Hartford Jean Clemens wrote to her father; the letter not extant but mentioned in Sam’s Aug. 26 to Livy.
March 4 Thursday – H.H. Rogers sent Sam a cable c/o “Bookseller” that the contracts had been signed. This cable was returned on Mar. 5, so a second one was sent c/o Chatto & Windus, which was delivered [Mar. 23 to Chatto & Windus]. Note: neither cable is extant.
March 2 Tuesday – At 23 Tedworth Square in London, Sam wrote to John Y. MacAlister at 20 Hanover Square, London, declining his “kind invitation” to an unnamed gathering due to his “bereavement [MTP]. Note: MacAlister obviously replied, his letter not extant but implied by Sam’s Mar 2 to 24 response.
MacAlister was editor of Library magazine and member of the Savage Club.
February 26 Friday – At 23 Tedworth Square in London, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers, “nervous about the contracts” since Frank Bliss had delayed signing. Bliss’ contract specified an advance, non-refundable advance of $10,000 on Sam’s new book, (FE). Sam confessed to not being “strenuous now” and suggested they grant concessions should Bliss want them. He was pondering a good offer from a London publisher for FE, and wanted “to strike Chatto for a new and better arrangement,” but not until Bliss signed.
February 22 Monday – J.A. O’Brien wrote from Sydney, Aus. to Sam. The short note is half illegible, but refers to a tribute which “should be framed in gold.” He wrote he was “nobody” [MTP].
February 18 Thursday – Sam’s notebook:
Feb. 18/97. Brilliant morning (very rare). Some of the people looked glad to be alive. But not many. Walked an hour in King’s Road (as usual) between Markham Square & the Chelsea Polytechnic—back & forth. Shakespeare’s people all on hand, as usual.
O Mother of Thugs!
February 16 Tuesday – Dial included “Fenimore Cooper and Mark Twain,” by D.L. Maulsby, p. 107-9. “A general defense of Cooper against MT’s exaggerated charges, though conceding defects in characterization and style. Some of Cooper’s descriptions are based on personal observation, and MT, unfamiliar with the locale, is presumptuous to criticize. Cooper’s works have the merits of their out-of-door atmosphere and essentially American quality” [Tenney: “A Reference Guide First Annual Supplement,” American Literary Realism, Autumn 1977 p.
February 11 Thursday – At 23 Tedworth Square in London, Sam wrote to Chatto & Windus, ordering two books, one “something that will explain the law of whom to leave cards on” [MTP: American Art Assoc. catalogs, Apr. 18, 1929, Item 76]. Note: English etiquette regarding calling cards was evidently somewhat foreign to the Clemens family.
February 9 Tuesday – Joe Twichell wrote to Sam.