September 1 Friday – In Sanna, Sweden Sam wrote to Poultney Bigelow.

We are progressing handsomely, and are greatly obliged to you for putting us on the track. I suppose you will be returning to London soon. We shall reach there the last day of this month and may remain till mid-winter or longer. Then I will powerfully discourage the weekly newspaper project unless you can prove that the wear and tear of it will not destroy your health [MTP].

August 31 Thursday

Autumn – Sam wrote a piece titled, “A Simplified Alphabet” in response to the simplified spelling movement in the United States. It began:

August 29 Tuesday – In Sanna, Sweden Sam wrote to T. Douglas Murray.

“Stop—I may be wrong; my bad memory may be deceiving me; I may be mistaken in thinking that the bulk of Joan’s history lies in the Rehabilitation Process. But you will know, & will pay no attention to me if I am in error. It is five years since I have seen the records.”

Sam had done some editing on the introduction for Murray’s Joan of Arc book to suit Livy and himself , and estimated it now ran 3,500 words [MTP].

August 25 Friday – In Sanna, Sweden Sam wrote to T. Douglas Murray, who was working on publishing the Official Records of the Joan of Arc Trials in Rouen, and the “Rehabilitation.” Sam had agreed some time ago to write the introduction.

Yours (undated) has arrived [not extant]. I do hope his Majesty will give you leave, & I am very glad you think the prospect of it so good….

August 24 Thursday – In Sanna, Sweden Sam wrote to Hans L. Braekstad

Unhappily for me I was obliged to telegraph a request to the National Theatre Director. Kellgren has promised to deliver me from an ailment of six years standing; I think it is rather plain that he is going to succeed; so it would not be fair to interrupt the process in the middle & risk the loss of the ground gained.

August 23 Wednesday – In Sanna, Sweden Sam wrote to General John Tatlock, Jr., 32 Nassau St., NYC. Only the envelope survives [MTP: eBay item 1839204511]. Note: Tatlock (d. 1902) was an astronomer and assistant actuary of the Mutual Life Ins. Co. of NY. He was also secretary of the Actuarial Society and a member of the American Mathematical Society.

August 22 Tuesday – In Sanna, Sweden Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers.

I have looked over the originals of the Dream Sweetheart & Wapping Alice, & perceive that the first does not convey my idea clearly at all; & so, for me it has no value & must remain unpublished. And I perceive that a part of Alice needs re-writing—so she can’t be publishable as she stands. She’ll never get that re-writing. She should have applied while I was interested in her—& she didn’t. I wash my hands of the business.

August 21 Monday – The Polish Countess Emily De Laszowska wrote from Corinthia, Austria, a long, mostly illegible letter to Sam. “Dearest Mr. Clemens I have always put off writing letter to because I hate writing you a short letter, so the result has been a disgraceful silence” [MTP]. Note: Sam must have had a migraine trying to read this one. See Dolmetsch for more on the Countess.

August 20 Sunday – In Sanna, Sweden, Livy and Clara Clemens wrote to Chatto & Windus; Clara requested a copy of The Open Question by Elizabeth Robins (C.E. Raimond) and Livy asked for selections of Robert Browning’s poetry, “something not very expensive” [MTP].

August 19 Saturday – Joe Twichell wrote to Sam from Antwerp, Belgium. He explained why he hadn’t written—being far away from his “base which furnished the staple of my communication,” and keeping up with the pace of his Chicago friend (unspecified). Joe landed in Southampton July 5 and would sail again from there for home on Sept. 23. They were disappointed at being unable to see the Clemenses. He told of their adventures so far and of plans to go to the Hague, then to Milan, the Tyrol, and perhaps Venice.