July 14 Wednesday – Sam wrote a short note from Hartford to George E. Waring, Jr. (1833-1898), whom he may have met at the Dec. 15, 1874 Atlantic Monthly contributors’ dinner. Waring had called at Sam’s home, but Sam was away. Sam wrote that he and family would be at Bateman’s Point, Newport, Rhode Island on July 31, and hoped to see Waring there [MTL 6: 512].
July 13 Tuesday – In Hartford Sam wrote to Bret Harte asking for his autograph for a collector friend he’d met in London, Charles E. Tisdall, Chancellor of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. Sam wrote Tisdall was “a mighty good fellow—for a Christian” [MTL 6: 507-8].
July 8 Thursday – In Cambridge, Mass., Howells wrote Sam that he’d be unable to visit. Sam’s invitation, probably written on July 6-7, has been lost. The Howellses were going to the country at Shirley Village, Mass. and wouldn’t be home from Aug. 1 till Oct. 1 [MTHL 1: 94].
July 6 Tuesday – In Hartford Sam wrote to Mr. Gerard (unknown), referring him to Edward T. Potter Sam’s architect, for pictures and drawings on his Farmington Avenue home [MTL 6: 506].
In Cambridge, Mass., Howells wrote Sam a short letter about submissions for the Atlantic, a music item, and his sympathies for “poor little Susy,” who evidently was ill [MTHL 1: 94].
July 5 Monday – In Hartford Sam wrote to Howells that he’d finished The Adventures of Tom Sawyer but “didn’t take the chap beyond boyhood,” a development that Howells had recommended. Sam doubted that any magazine could pay him enough to publish the book, and used figures Harte had received from Scribner’s for comparison.
July 3 Saturday – In Cambridge, Mass., Howells wrote Sam not to “waste it on a boy”—that is, his “chief work,” The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which Howells thought should be carried on into Tom’s adult years [MTHL 1: 90]. Note: even Howells got it wrong now and then.
July 2 Friday – In Hartford Clemens wrote a check to the Evening Post Association for $4; a subscription [JG Autographs eBay item # 370952848214; February 2014].
July – Sam inscribed a copy of Queen Mary, A Drama. Author’s Edition (1875): “Saml. L. Clemens, Hartford, July, 1875” [Gribben 695].
June 30 Wednesday – In Hartford Sam wrote to Dr. Cornelius Agnew, asking if a summer at the seaside for Nell Kinearney would be a good thing. Nell was a neighbor with the diseased eye that doctors had recommended removing [MTL 6: 502]. Note: The Clemenses may have paid some of the medical expenses for the operation done in the fall.
June 29 Tuesday – Jack Van Nostrand, Quaker City friend, wrote from Manitou, Colo.