December 24 Saturday – In Florence, the Clemens family enjoyed Christmas eve. Sam wrote of it to Clara the next day:
Great times here last night. Jean had a tree & it was a very nice one indeed. The servants all came in & smiled; & that & the candles made the place almost uncomfortably bright [Dec. 25 to Clara].
December 23 Friday – In Florence, Sam finished a letter he began on Dec. 19 to A.M. Barnes who sent typed pages of Sam’s MS on request.
It is carefully done, & that is what I particularly want, as I must do my proof-reading on this side of the ocean. I shall have the MS ready before many days [MTP]. Note: no doubt PW.
December 22 Thursday – In Florence Sam wrote to his brother Orion, relating the 26 days it took to finish PW. Livy was “fairly well,” Susy was “progressing well in her singing lessons,” Clara “in her music.” There was snow on the ground with bitter cold weather.
Jean can talk with the Italians; speaks French like a native, and talks German well. She was going to have some young Italian neighbors in Xmas [MTP].
December 20 Tuesday – Sam’s notebook:
Dec. 20/92. Finished ‘Pudd’nhead Wilson’ last Wednesday, 14th. Began it 11th or 12th of last month, after the King girls left. Wrote more than 60,000 words between Nov. 12 and Dec. 14. One day, wrote 6,000 words in 13 hours. Another day wrote 5,000 in 11 [MTLTP 328-9; NB 32, TS 51].
Typothetae of N.Y. sent a printed invitation to Sam for their annual dinner at the Hotel Brunswick at six p.m. on Jan. 17, 1893 [MTP].
December 19 Monday – In Florence Sam wrote to daughter Clara at Mrs. Mary B. Willard’s school in Berlin. He sent Merry Christmas good wishes and sent his love to the Phelpses, the Colemans, the Jacksons and to Mrs. Mary B. Willard and her family.
Jean’s got some kind of a horse-complaint. I don’t know what it is, but I think it’s the Horse-Kiss Hives. It comes out on the mouth, & is not becoming [MTP].
December 18 Sunday – In Florence Sam wrote to Arabel Moulton-Barrett, sole surviving sister of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in Jamaica. The Barrett family had long been associated with Jamaica, amassing a fortune from sugar plantations. Arabel evidently had requested a photograph of Sam.
December 17 Saturday – E.J. Carpenter, literary editor for the Boston Daily Advertiser, wrote to Sam, sending him an annual supplement feature; might Sam might “favor” him “with a few lines, which could be printed, concerning it”? [MTP].
December 16 Friday – Sam went Christmas shopping in down town Florence [Dec. 15 to Clara]. He also wrote to Chatto & Windus, asking them to send him a particular atlas, as he wanted it for a Christmas present for “one of the children” [MTP].
This was the night that Sam was planning to be at Mr. Loring’s with Dr. William Wilberforce Baldwin. (See Dec. 11 to Baldwin; also undated note to Loring, estimated also to be Dec. 11).
December 15 Thursday – In Florence at 3 or 4 a.m., Sam couldn’t sleep so wrote to daughter Clara at Mrs. Mary B. Willard’s school in Berlin. He’d finished revising PW the evening before. “Writing never tired me, but the revising has done that.” He also told of receiving a letter from Laurence Hutton (“Uncle Larry”) from Rome. He added a bit of family news:
You will be charmed by Susy’s singing. She has made very great & rapid improvement, & it is a genuine pleasure to hear her.
December 14 Wednesday – Sam finished revising Pudd’nhead Wilson [Dec. 15 to Clara]. Also:
Dec. 20/92. Finished ‘Pudd’nhead Wilson’ last Wednesday, 14th. [MTLTP 328-9; NB 32 TS 51].