September 29 Monday – Sam sent a note and letter from the Langham to Louisa P. MacDonald, wife of George MacDonald and mother of eleven children. The communications were about invitations and missing Louisa when they called.
“…we just barely missed you both, & were so disappointed! And out of eleven children we couldn’t scare up even one” [MTL 5: 444-5].
September 27 Saturday – Sam and Livy revisited the Brighton Aquarium. Sam had a head cold. Both Livy and Sam were anxious about getting money from their New York bank, Henry Clews & Co. Sam suggested borrowing from Routledge & Sons [MTL 5: 443-4n1].
September 25 or 26 Friday – Sam sent a postcard from London to Henry Lee, accepting his invitation to visit the Brighton Aquarium, and asking that he wait about the plans to visit Paris until they saw him [MTL 5: 443].
September 24 Wednesday – In the evening after the theater, Sam and Livy learned of the suspension of funds at their New York bank, Henry Clews & Co. [Willis 85]. It wasn’t until early Jan. 1874 that the bank was able to resume business and pay all obligations in full. In 1886, however, Sam continued to believe that Clews had cheated him out of money [MTL 5: 441n3].
September 23 Tuesday – Sam wrote a short query to the editor of Punch, Charles William Shirley Brooks (1816-1874), and asked if he might send a short article [MTL 5: 442]. Note: Sam’s note has been surmised by the MTP as relating to the unpublished “About a Visit to the Doré Gallery in London” [MTL 5: 442n1]. Brooks’ response, if any, is not extant; nor did any Twain article appear in Punch.
September 22 Monday – Dr. John Brown wrote to Sam
September 21 Sunday – In London, Sam wrote to his mother, Jane Clemens and family all about sealskin coats he’d obtained or ordered for Jane Clemens, Pamela Moffett, and Charles Langdon. Sam boasted of saving about fifteen or twenty dollars each by buying wholesale through an “old friend.” He added:
September 20 Saturday – Dr. John Brown sent a small printed folder with two poems, no letter [MTP].
The closed. New York Stock Exchange It would stay closed for ten days. This began the Great Depression of 1873, the longest in US history; it lasted through the spring of 1879 and caught Sam in a financial bind when his NY bank, Henry Clews & Co. froze funds.
September 19 Friday – Sam dated his double signature with “London” to an unidentified person [liveauctioneers.com/item/104701; Sept. 6, 2003].