December 18 Wednesday – Bill paid to Moore, Weeks & Co., Hartford for repair of rocker & cradle $4 [MTP].

December 17 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Thomas Nast, thanking him for his help for Charley (Charles M.) Fairbanks and complementing him on Nast’s Almanac.

“I wish you could go to England with us in May. Surely you could never regret it. I do hope my publishers can make it pay you to illustrate my English book. Then I should have good pictures. They’ve got to improve on ‘Roughing It ’ ” [MTL 5: 251-2].

December 15 Sunday – In a Springfield (Mass.) Union article of Dec. 20, an account and description of Sam attending Twichell’s church was published. Sam was a regular member in his early Hartford days.

December 14 Saturday – Sam’s LETTER FROM “MARK TWAIN” “Appeal for Ned Wakeman” dated Hartford, Dec. 3, ran in the San Francisco Alta California.

December 10 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Thomas Nast, thanking him for his autograph that he sent to Mary Fairbanks’ son, Charley, a fan of Nast who later became his protégé and even named a son after him. Sam also was grateful for Nast’s role in helping to elect Grant over Greeley in the recent election.

My Dear Nast—

December 7 Saturday – Sam’s letter, “The Missouri Disaster” dated Dec. 5, ran in the New York Tribune [Camfield, bibliog.].

December 6 Friday – Sam’s letter, “Concerning an Insupportable Nuisance” dated Dec. 5, ran in the Hartford Evening Post [Camfield, bibliog.].

December 5 Thursday – Sam wrote from Hartford to his mother and family in Fredonia, asking for any two of them to visit during the winter and for “a couple of you here for Christmas.” Livy couldn’t handle any more than two guests at once [MTL 5: 240].

December 3 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to the editor of the San Francisco Alta California. Sam intended the letter to be printed, and it was on the front page of the Dec. 14 issue. The appeal was for Captain Ned Wakeman, who was suddenly stricken with paralysis while at sea. Wakeman partially recovered but died at age 57 [MTL 5: 233].

December – Sam wrote to the Editor of the Literary World about unconscious plagiarism in Innocents Abroad. Unconscious plagiarism was an idea that Sam spoke about in an 1879 speech honoring Oliver Wendell Holmes [MTL 5: 232, 233n4].