Day By Day Dates

August 8 Thursday – Frederick J. Hall wrote to Sam about Johnson of the Century wanting the material and illustrations and of the one picture by Daniel Beard “made as a sample.”

August 9 Friday – Sam’s notebook: [chk #] 4388. A.H.H. Dawson, $10, Aug. 9 / [chk #] 4389 Langdon & Co. $100 Aug. 9 [3: 491].

Sam wrote to George Standring, letter not extant but referred to in Standring’s Sept. 16 [MTP].

Franklin G. Whitmore wrote to Sam:

August 10 Saturday – In Cambridge, Mass. Howells answered Sam’s plea of Aug. 5:

You know it will be purely a pleasure to me to read your proofs. So far as the service I may be is concerned, that I gladly owe you for your many generous acts; and if I didn’t want to read the book for its own sake or your sake, I should still want to do it for Mrs. Clemens [MTHL 2: 609].

August 12 Monday – Andrew H.H. Dawson wrote on District Attorney’s Office, NYC stationery to Sam:

It’s a whack! I’ll go it — do it — risk it, yea in the full frowning face of the fate of the Ides of March gang & the Flack flock, I’ll enter into the conspiracy you propose & will carry it out to the letter reckless of consequences. I made the same contract once with Stewart & Woodford & did redeem to the letter my part of it but he… [did not.] [MTP].

August 13-14 Wednesday – It is possible but unlikely that Sam made the intended trip to Hartford through New York during this period; it would have been a rushed trip, since he was in Elmira on Aug. 15 when Kipling arrived. In his Aug. 2 to his brother he wrote: “I go to Hartford a couple of days hence to remain a spell.” No outgoing letters from Sam are extant for the period. Further, Sam refers to a “made delay by going away” in his Aug.

August 14 Wednesday – Frederick J. Hall wrote to Sam enclosing the finished title page for CY. He also mentioned Charles A. Durfee, who was in with a book of quotations to publish [MTP].

August 15 Thursday – What Baetzhold calls “one hot August morning” during the family’s summer stay at Quarry Farm, a relatively unknown young man tramped up the hill to visit. A year later, after a meteoric rise in literary circles, he would be widely read and discussed. Sam would later say, he knew this man’s work “better than I know anybody else’s books”: Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936). The exact date of Kipling’s visit, Aug.

August 16 Friday – In Elmira Sam telegraphed Robert Underwood Johnson of the Century:

I see Gilders position clearly and he is right. Leave the article out and I will write you an article on some other subject [MTP]. Note: Sam appears to be calling their bluff on the title.

August 17 Saturday – In Elmira Sam telegraphed Richard Watson Gilder of the Century:

…put into the proofs every alteration and every modification you would like made and I will then decide at once [MTP].

Sam also telegraphed and wrote to Francis Dalzell Finlay, answering his July 29, which had been delayed. Sam attributed the delay in the forwarding of the letter to “the carelessness of my business agent in Hartford,” (Franklin G. Whitmore.)

August 18 Sunday – Sam’s notebook:

August 19 Monday – In Elmira Sam wrote to Franklin G. Whitmore asking him to check with the tax office to determine the value of the James Goodwin, Newton Case, James G. Batterson and Samuel Colt mansions, as he wanted to compare the worth of his Hartford home with theirs. He also asked for another dozen checks as he’d lost the others [MTP].

Sam’s notebook: [chk#] 4387. Twichell —  $140. Aug. 19. [3: 491].

August 20 Tuesday – In Elmira Sam wrote to Frederick J. Hall confirming that the proofreader had to follow his punctuation “ABSOLUTELY.” Sam included the desired issue dates for CY in London, Canada and the U.S.: Dec. 6, 8 and 10, 1889 [MTLTP 255].

August 21 Wednesday – In Elmira Sam wrote William Dean Howells about the delay in proofs of CY being sent:

…yesterday Mr. Hall wrote that the printer’s proof-reader was improving my punctuation for me, & I telegraphed orders to have him shot without giving him time to pray [MTHL 2: 610]. Note: Sam consistently resented any messing with his spelling or punctuation.

August 22 Thursday – Sam may have been in New York City on business (see Aug 21 entry).

Thomas A. Davis wrote a “begging letter” to Sam (Mitchell to Davis Aug. 21 encl.) “wont you help a poor crippele [sic] old Minister” Sam wrote “Unanswered letters” on the env. [MTP].

August 23 Friday – Sam may have been in New York City on business (see Aug 21 entry).

Frederick J. Hall wrote to Sam:

I have heard both from Mr. S.E. Dawson and from Mr. Daniel Rose — they will see me the first part of next week, so I think there will be no difficulty in settling the Canadian matter satisfactorily.

I will leave Monday and get back as soon as I possibly can.

August 24 Saturday – In Elmira, Sam had just received the first batch of proofs sent by Webster & Co. on Aug. 18 [MTNJ 3: 512n109]. Sam wrote to William Dean Howells. Sam praised Beard’s illustrations for CY and hoped Howells could mention the book in his Harper’s column, “Editor’s Study.”

August 27 Tuesday – In Elmira Sam wrote to Franklin G. Whitmore about a letter received the day before which filled him “with apprehensions.” Sam prepared to leave for Hartford but then received a letter from Whitmore (not extant) “& felt differently.”

August 28 Wednesday – In Elmira Sam wrote a gushing letter of compliment to Daniel Carter Beard about the CY illustrations.

I do not know of any quality they lack. Grace, dignity, poetry, spirit, imagination, these enrich them and make them charming and beautiful; and wherever humor appears it is high and fine, easy, unforced, kept under mastery, and is delicious [MTP].

August 29 Thursday – Francis Dalzell Finlay wrote from Pitcher Creek, Texas to Sam:

August 30 Friday – Sam’s notebook: [chk#] 4406. WH Frost, Aug. 30 $16. [3: 491]. Note: not identified.

Daniel Whitford for Alexander & Green wrote to Sam; the ink is smeared to the point of illegibility, but the subject revolved around seeing posters using Mark Twain’s name while he and Fred Hall were in Buffalo, and possible permissions Sam had given for the use of his name [MTP].

August 31 Saturday – In Elmira Sam responded to a message (not extant) from William J. Hamersley that the typesetter would not be ready Sept. 1 as hoped. Sam was in a tight spot financially, and the continual delays and hitches in the typesetter made it impossible for him to obtain help from Livy’s brother, Charles Langdon, who was about to leave with his family for a year abroad. Explaining that the earlier stoppage on Aug. 2 was expected, Sam continued:

September – Sometime during the month Sam inscribed a copy of The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood to Elsie Leslie Lyde: To Elsie Leslie Lyde. / This book is for you, my dear, & / you will like it. / Mark Twain [MTP].

September 1 Sunday – In Elmira Sam telegraphed William J. Hamersley about Charles Langdon and the latest offer Sam made to him:

He drove up this morning to talk. Was surprised at my proposition when I re-stated it. He wouldn’t touch it. Said he supposed I was proposing to sell a perpetual lien, parting with it out & out, a stipulated sum for each thousand dollars cash [MTNJ 3: 516].

September 2 Monday – Daniel Carter Beard wrote compliments to Sam: “It is a great pleasure for me to know that my pictures are admired by the author and a still greater pleasure to receive personal acknowledgement of his appreciation” [MTP].

Orion Clemens wrote to Sam, ashamed that he was “so slowly with the Kings,” and had spent all morning on the lawn and related all the projects the house needed. [MTP].

September 3 Tuesday – Frederick J. Hall wrote two notes to Sam. Payment had been offered to Samuel E. Dawson for arranging a contract with the Rose Publishing Co. of Toronto for CY. (Dawson was no longer in the book publishing business). Hall conveyed that Dawson would not take payment, but would accept a set of the Library of American Literature [MTLTP 257n3]. Hall also enclosed a copy of the contract with Rose Publishing.