September 28 Saturday – Sam spoke at the Sheriff’s Dinner, at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Guildhall, London in response to a toast “Success to Literature” [Schmidt]. The dinner was given by the new sheriffs of London to the city guilds and liverymen. When one of the sheriffs proposed the health of Mark Twain, he was applauded, then Sam responded to the toast. The London Times, Sept. 30, 1872, called it “an amusing speech” [LLMT 178-79].

September 25 Wednesday – Sam attended a performance of Handel’s Messiah, featuring the well-known Hungarian soprano, Teresa Titiens and a chorus of 700 at the Royal Albert Hall.

September 23 Monday – Sam wrote from London to Thomas B. Pugh, declining his offer to lecture in Philadelphia during the next season. Pugh had arranged past lectures there for Sam [MTL 5: 178].

September 22 Sunday – Sam wrote from London to Livy that he was “making tolerably fair progress” sightseeing and collecting notes for a book.

“This is no worn out field. I can write up some of these things in a more different way than they have been written before” [MTL 5: 169].

September 21 Saturday – The London Spectator published Sam’s letter of Sept. 20 about Hotten. In the evening, Sam gave a dinner speech at the Savage Club [Published in Fatout, MT Speaking 69-71]. The Club was a private club for authors, journalists and artists, founded in 1857 by a half-dozen writers of plays who dined together every week in an old Convent Garden inn.

September 20 Friday – Sam wrote from London to the editor for the London Spectator, railing against the unauthorized use, attribution of the articles of others, and added material to his work by John Camden Hotten. In the absence of international copyright agreements, Hotten had published many American works without permission or payment [MTL 5: 163]. Note: see Welland 20-22.

September 18 Wednesday – The Alta California reported the death of John Henry Riley, whose planned collaboration with Sam on the South Africa diamond book was left undone [MTL 4: 468n3].

A six-month ticket to the British Museum’s Reading Room was issued to Mr. Samuel L. Clemens, Langham Hotel [MTL 5: 176n12].

September 17 Tuesday – Sam wrote a short note from London to Arthur Locker (1828-1893), a journalist writing a short sketch of Sam’s life for the London Graphic. Sam wrote that the sketch in “Men of the Time” was accurate, as he “furnished the facts” himself [MTL 5: 161].

September 16 Monday – Sam had lunch with John Lawrence Toole (1830-1909), comic actor [MTL 5: 592n13]. Sam first met Toole in London in Sept. 1872 [MTNJ 1: 2: 296n11].