July 30 Sunday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Montgomery Schuyler, journalist and architectural critic for the New York World, answering his letter of July 25. Sam had done a squib for the World but burned it, and would write another “in coming months.” No doubt he was responding to a request for an article [MTLE 1: 88].
July 29 Saturday – Abraham Reeves Jackson wrote from Chicago, transcript of July 22 Evening Post editorial enclosed. Jackson passed on a letter from J.H. Dowling who wanted Sam to lecture there [MTP].
July 27 Thursday – Sam wrote to Charles E. Perkins, sending $3,000 to be invested for Livy. This letter not extant but referred to in the July 31 acknowledgment from Perkins.
July 26 Wednesday – The Hartford Courant printed “The Boy, the Beetle and the Dog. A Sketch from Mark Twain’s ‘Tom Sawyer,’ in Press.” This was taken from chapter 5 and was independent of Conway’s “London Letter” first sent to the Cincinnati Commercial (See June 26 entry.) It was reprinted Aug. 28 in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch [MTPO notes on July 24 to Conway].
July 25 Tuesday – Sam’s article “The Secret Out” ran in the NY Evening Post [Camfield, bibliog.].
July 24 Monday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Moncure Conway. He’d discovered where The Adventures of Tom Sawyer excerpts in the newspapers were originating from—Moncure’s marketing letters to a Cincinnati paper.
July 23 Sunday – The Philadelphia Sunday Republic published part of the fence-whitewashing episode of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer [The Twainian, Mar. 1944 p.4].
Charles Dudley Warner wrote from Hartford to Sam, sorry he hadn’t been able to get to Phila. soon enough to see him. He’d read TS “and greatly enjoyed” it. Much of his small scrawl is illegible [MTP]
July 22 Saturday – In Elmira, Sam wrote a long conciliatory letter he marked PRIVATE to Elisha Bliss. In a July 20 letter Bliss answered Sam’s concerns and sent a few more chapters of proofs of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Bliss also had been sick, and objected to some of Sam’s suggestions. Sam’s wrote that his suggestions about shrinking the company were just that, and:
July 21 Friday – The American Publishing Co.’s edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was copyrighted by title page this day, even though it wasn’t offered for sale until Dec. 1876 [Duckett 106, citing Blanck].
J.W. Langdon wrote from NYC to solicit writing for his autograph album… “something original” [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env. “Unutterable cheek”
July 20 Thursday – Elisha Bliss wrote enclosing proofs of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer [MTP].
Henry H. Halterman wrote from Jackson, Ohio asking for a $500 loan [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env. “$500 wanted.”