January 25 Saturday – After his Jan. 23 dinner at the Union League Club, William Dean Howells stopped off at Hartford, probably staying the night. He wrote to Sam of the visit and his departure on Jan. 28 and also on Feb. 2 to his father [MTHL 2: 628&n4].
The Critic reviewed the stage version of P&P.
January 24 Friday – In Hartford Sam wrote a two-line decline to Clarence W. Bowen:
My hand is out, on miscellaneous work, from lack of practice, & so it would not be worth while to try [MTP].
January 23 Thursday – Sam signed an affidavit in the House lawsuit case, outlining William Gillette’s early (1884) involvement with a possible P&P play in order to discredit Edward H. House’s claims [MTNJ 3: 544n185].
The Brooklyn Eagle carried an announcement on p.4 of February’s articles for Harper’s Magazine, Number 477. Among them is listed a story collected in 1893’s The £1,000,000 Bank-Note and Other New Stories:
January 22 Wednesday – J.L. Dawkins, secretary of the Toronto Anti-Poverty Society, wrote to Sam commenting on the libertarian principles of P&P and asking if Sam might lecture for the society sometime in the spring [MTP]. This was one of a probable hundreds of such requests during these years.
January 21 Tuesday – The Boston Daily Globe, Jan. 22, 1889 p.4 “Howard’s Gossip” and datelined New York, Jan. 21, had a few words to say about P&P.
The “Prince and Pauper” needs pruning.
Elsie Leslie does admirable work as the Prince and fair work as the Pauper.
She certainly is a daisy.
Mark Twain’s speech was in his self-complacent line, and a dead copy of Artemus Ward. Twain could never be a favorite here.
January 20 Monday – The Clemens family went to New York for the opening of the P&P play at the Broadway Theatre. This was Abby Sage Richardson’s version, produced by Daniel Frohman and staged by David Belasco. Sam stood hand in hand with the star of the show, little Elsie Leslie, and gave a curtain speech following the third act. Livy wrote to her mother about the evening on Feb. 2:
January 18 Saturday – The Hartford Courant printed “Mark Twain’s Lawsuit” on the front page.
Mr. Edward H. House, the author and journalist, has brought suit against Mr. Samuel L. Clemens, alleging breach of contract in relation to the dramatization of The Prince and the Pauper. An acting version of the play in question by Mrs. Abby Sage Richardson is announced for next Monday evening at the Broadway Theater, New York, with Elsie Leslie in the parts of Edward VI and Tom Canty.
January 17 Friday – A Hartford Courant reporter called on Sam in the afternoon, seeking answers about the dispute with Edward H. House over the dramatization contract for P&P. (See Jan.18 entry.)
Sam forwarded Hudson’s Jan. 16 letter to R.W. Nelson of the Thorne Typesetting Co., writing on the bottom:
January 16 Thursday – Edmund Hudson, editor of the National Democrat Weekly (Washington) wrote after hearing about the Thorne typesetters from Sylvester Baxter of the Boston Herald.
January 15 Wednesday – Eli H. Chandler of Kansas City, Kansas wrote at sea, returning from London to Sam, and enclosed clippings from the Jan. 13 London Daily Telegraph, which he claimed had the highest circulation in the world. Chandler observed that the editor of the Telegraph “totally misunderstands and misconceives the scope and intention of your book” (CY). The article called the book a “travesty…that tries to deface our moral and literary currency” [MTP].