April 14 Saturday – Sam wrote a letter of condolence to Nancy Fish Barnum (Mrs. P.T. Barnum) on the loss of her youngest daughter, Pauline Barnum Seeley:

April 13 Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Miss Holmes, who evidently requested Sam send her an autograph and a drawing. Sam claimed “figure-drawing as my specialty,” but admitted that some thought he was good at landscapes and still life, though the persons who thought so couldn’t tell the difference. Sam sent her a picture of the President and a caption [MTLE 2: 40].

April 10 Tuesday – H.W. Bergen wrote from Buffalo having rec’d Sam’s of Apr. 5. He thought Sam’s idea of using a hack a good one. “I telegraphed you last evening with ref. to the check so that I may receive it while here” [MTP]. Note: Bergen was Sam’s road agent, reporting on play performances in various cities.

April 8 Sunday – Sam inscribed a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to Edwina Booth (1861-1938), daughter of the popular actor, Edwin Booth [MTLE 2: 39].

April 7 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to the actor Edwin Booth, for whom Sam had originally written Gilded Age play. Sam apologized for calling backstage uninvited to pay his respects the night before [MTLE 2: 38]. Note: Booth was the brother of the man who killed Abraham Lincoln.

April 6 Friday – Sam went to see the popular actor Edwin Booth in a play and called upon him backstage. Evidently, Booth did not appreciate such spontaneous unannounced contacts, as evidenced by Sam’s apology note on Apr. 7 [MTLE 2: 38].

April 2 Monday – In Washington, D.C, Bret Harte wrote to Sam. Duckett calls the salutation “extremely formal.” Harte had received an offer from John Thomson Ford (1829-1894) who owned theatres in Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, about the play Ah Sin. Harte outlined the offer and asked Sam to telegram him his answer. He emphasized to Sam that the play was “ours” [Duckett 141-2]. Note: Sam accepted the offer.

April – Sam inscribed a copy of George Ticknor’s (1791-1871) Life, Letters, and Journals of George Ticknor (1876): “S.L. Clemens. / Hartford, / Conn. / April, 1877” [Gribben 704].

March 26 Monday – Sam read “Advantages of Travel” at the Monday Evening Club in Hartford, This was Sam’s fourth presentation to the Club [Monday Evening Club].

March 23? Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Howells, praising his effort on the play dialogue, and updating information on a lawsuit where the “villain got only $300 out of me instead of $10,000.” Sam wrote about beginning Orion’s biography the day before: