Day By Day Dates

February 2 Sunday – Sam wrote from the St. Nicholas Hotel in New York to Livy on their third wedding anniversary.

I am keeping the great anniversary in the solitude of the hotel; & not boisterously, for last night’s whirlwind of excitement has swept all the spirit out of me & I am as dull & lifeless as if I had just waked out of a long, stupefying sleep.

February 3 Monday – George Routledge & Sons, London was paid for duties on books shipped (bill in MTP).

 In Hartford, M. Nott delivered and certified a load of wood had a certain amount of feet [MTP].

February 4 Tuesday – Nearly an inch of rain fell in NYC [NOAA.gov].

February 5 Wednesday – Sam gave his revised “Sandwich Islands” lecture at Steinway Hall, New York City [Schmidt].

A load of hay was delivered by Paul Thompson for a fee of 5 cents [MTP].

February 6 Thursday – The Brooklyn Eagle ran an unsigned, teasing announcement on page 3 of Sam’s lecture for the following night. It has that Mark Twain ring to it.

MARK TWAIN

February 7 Friday – Sam gave his revised “Sandwich Islands” lecture at the Academy, Brooklyn, New York [Schmidt].

Bill dated Jan. 4 paid to H.A. Botsford & Co., Hartford dealers in bailed hay and straw, for $15.68 [MTP].

Nearly half an inch of rain & snow fell on NYC [NOAA.gov].

February 8 Saturday – Sam returned briefly to Hartford [MTL 5: 295].

February 10 Monday – Sam was listed among the arrivals at the St. Nicholas Hotel in New York. He may have viewed dress rehearsals of Augustin Daly’s play of Roughing It, which ran from Feb. 18 to Mar. 15 [The Twainian, July-Aug 1946 p2].

In the evening, Sam gave his revised “Sandwich Islands” lecture at Steinway Hall, New York City [Schmidt].

February 11 Tuesday – Sam returned briefly to Hartford [MTL 5: 295].

February 12 Wednesday – An inch of snow fell on NYC [NOAA.gov].

February 13 Thursday – Sam gave his revised “Sandwich Islands” lecture in The Tabernacle, Jersey City, New Jersey [MTL 5: 295]. The four February lectures were successful; reviews highly complementary.

In Hartford, M. Nott delivered and certified a load of wood had a certain amount of feet [MTP].

February 14 Friday – Sam probably returned to Hartford after his last lecture. Sometime during his New York stays he met up with John McComb, the part owner and editor of the Alta California most responsible for getting Sam the assignment for the Quaker City excursion [MTL 5: 296].

February 15 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to James Hammond Trumbull, accepting membership in and an invitation to attend the Hartford Monday Evening Club on Feb. 17. According to Sam, Trumbull, a learned and educated man, “could swear in twenty-seven languages” [MTL 5: 297]. Members of the Club included Joseph R. Hawley, and Rev. Nathaniel J.

February 17 Monday – Livy and Sam wrote from Hartford to Livy’s mother, Olivia Lewis Langdon of family matters [MTL 5: 298].

Sam attended a meeting of the Hartford Monday Evening Club, where he heard Congregationalist minister Nathaniel J. Burton read an essay entitled “Individualism” [MTL 5: 297n2].

February 18 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Whitelaw Reid, asking him to put a short notice in the Tribune that Sam wouldn’t be lecturing any more that season. Sam claimed it was the Tribune’s fault that he had twenty invitations to lecture in New York City alone [MTL 5: 299-300].

February 20 Thursday – M. Nott delivered and certified a load of wood had a certain amount of feet [MTP].

February 24 Monday – Bill was paid to Arnold, Constable & Co. of New York, $256.54, for silk, Florentine, cashmere, bands and handiwork [MTP].

February 25 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Elisha Bliss and asked him to “stir Frank up—he is getting 3 or 4 weeks behindhand with his statement [for royalties].” Sam also mentioned some man in New York wanted to print 100 of the Jumping Frog stories “merely for distribution among friends” [MTL 5: 300-1].

February 26 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Elisha Bliss clarifying statement dates and commenting on a book of sketches requested by Bliss and his current work in progress, The Gilded Age. This book was a true collaboration between Sam and Livy, and Charles and Susan Warner. The women would comment and kibitz on the work as it progressed.

February 28 Friday – Sam again wrote from Hartford to Bliss about his “infatuation” with writing The Gilded Age and his intent to have the book published simultaneously in England and America. Living there for a time would solve the legal question of the English residency requirement for copyright [MTL 5: 302].

March – Sometime during the month, Sam wrote from Hartford to Louisa I. Conrad, a neighbor in St. Louis in 1867. Sam’s letter is a humorous “RECIPE FOR MAKING A SCRAPBOOK” [MTL 5: 303].

March 1 Saturday – A receipt with this date from the Asylum Congregational Society for $155. The document is a form letter for rent of slip no. 167 [number written in] for one year from date [MTP]. Notes: Annual pew fees were a common way for churches to raise revenue. It was a similar purchase of $25 by Orion that would raise Sam’s ire in two years (see July 26, 1875 entry).

March 3 Monday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Willard M. White (1843-1923) who had asked for help in promoting the invention of a mosquito net frame that attached to a bed.

March 4 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Elisha Bliss. Sam wanted Nast to illustrate the next book, The Gilded Age. He asked Bliss’ advice on the matter and a suggested price to offer Nast.

March 7 Friday – Sam, in Hartford, telegraphed and also wrote a short note with enclosure to Whitelaw Reid of the New York Tribune. Sam wrote about the convicted murderer William Foster and then changed his mind and asked Reid to “tear this stuff up” [MTL 5: 310-11]. Still, the article was published in the Tribune on Mar. 10.