July 28 Monday – Sam’s reply letter of March was printed in Josh Billings’ column in the New York Weekly. The Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax had sold hundreds of thousands of copies since 1869 [MTL 5: 306n1&3].
July 27 Sunday – Sam wrote from Edinburgh, Scotland to Elisha Bliss. English law required that publication in England precede that in other countries, thus the agreement Sam had with Routledge provided a three-week window; Sam expected The Gilded Age to be out in England before his planned departure on Oct. 25. Sam was pressing Bliss for the proofs [MTL 5: 420-1 & n2].
July 26 Saturday – The inserted cartoon ran in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper for this day, “The New Heathen Chinee / Mark Twain Teaches the Shah the American Game of Draw Poker” [MTJ Spring/Fall 2011; Vol. 49 p.111]. See cartoon in June 22 entry.
Edinburgh (/ˈɛdɪnbərə/ (listen)[8][9][10] Scots: [ˈɛdɪnbʌrə]; Scottish Gaelic:
July 25 Friday – By this date Sam’s entourage had arrived in Edinburgh. They stayed at Veitch’s Hotel [MTL 5: 420n1]. Livy wrote to Alice Hooker Day who evidently had asked if Sam would lecture solely for Hartford, and allow her to handle the performance. Livy kindly explained it was a “great labor” to prepare a lecture and that she didn’t know if Sam would lecture at all next season.
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire.
July 20 Sunday – Sam wrote from York, England to Livy’s mother, Olivia Lewis Langdon. Sam’s letter was a delightful description of York.
“All of which is to say, we have been 24 hours out of London, & they have been 24 hours of rest & quiet. Nobody knows us here—we took good care of that. In Edinburgh we are to be introduced to nobody, & shall stay in a retired, private hotel, & go on resting” [MTL 5: 419].
July 19 Saturday – Sam’s fifth of five letters on the Shah of Persia appeared in the New York Herald. The Clemenses left London for Edinburgh, Scotland. They stopped for several days in York, England.
July 16 Wednesday – Sam dictated from London to Elisha Bliss, information about coordinating publishing dates simultaneously with Routledge & Sons. The English version was typeset from proofsheets provided by Bliss, but lacked as many illustrations [MTL 5: 416].