Elmira, Hartford and England: Day By Day

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 25 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Mary Mason Fairbanks. Sam and Livy had been renting the Hooker house while their new home was being built. They planned on taking occupancy in the new house after returning from Elmira in the fall.

February 26 Monday – Sam telegraphed from Hartford to Redpath & Fall asking “How in the name of God does a man find his way from here to Amherst.” Fall answered with times and places for connections from Hartford to Amherst, which would take Sam five hours though Amherst is only 40 miles north of Hartford. Sam also canceled a trip to Boston, the purpose of which is unknown [MTL 5: 48].

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 27 Tuesday – Sam lectured at College Hall, Amherst, Mass., his last lecture of the season – “Roughing It.” Afterward Sam attended an oyster dinner and told stories of his piloting days and of spirit mediums in New York. The reviews were poor, but the dinner was a great hit [MTL 5: 49n3].

February 27 Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford to William Dean Howells about a mix-up in lecture dates for Boston, and Howells’ arrival in Hartford with Boston publisher James R. Osgood at the invitation from Sam’s neighbor and collaborator, Charles Dudley Warner. “I am in a sweat, & Warner is in another.” The visit was deferred for a week [MTL 6: 52].

February 28 Wednesday – Mary Mason Fairbanks wrote long to Sam & Livy. In part:

My dear unreliable boy, but much more reliable daughter!

I hardly know where to take up the broken thread. I feel as if you had been to Europe.

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].

February 28 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Edinburgh physician, John Brown, saying he was “delighted” with Brown’s commendations of The Gilded Age.

February 29 Thursday – The American Publishing Co. made official announcement for Roughing It, even though copies had been available and the first review had even appeared in the Utica New York Morning Herald and Gazette [MTL 5: 45n4].

The New York Weekly Reformer of Watertown, N.Y. ran a wildly ridiculous spoof account by Eli Perkins (pen name of Melville A. Landon) of Mark Twain’s life: “Interesting Biography of Mark Twain,” which began:

February 3 Saturday – Sam wrote from Hartford to Alvin J. Johnson (1827-1884), who had invited him to the 61st birthday celebration that evening for Horace Greeley in New York City. Johnson was a publisher and a close friend of Greeley’s.

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 Sunday – Greeley’s birthday party ended at around midnight. Sam stayed in New York overnight at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Sam probably returned to Hartford after a day or two, but his whereabouts and activities aren’t known until Feb. 10, when he was in Hartford.

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

February 4 Wednesday – Sam responded from Hartford to a letter from Emeline Beach, a fellow passenger on the Quaker City excursion with her father Moses Beach. Sam’s letter to the young woman he had previously flirted with was very proper and formal. He informed her of the death of Dr. George B. Birch (1822?-1873/4), who Sam credited along with William F.

February 5 to 12 Thursday – No letters have been found for this period. MTL 6: 30n1 explains this may be due to Sam’s expressed desire on Jan. 31 (made to Frank Fuller) that he was “entirely idle” and planned to “remain so for two weeks & possibly three.”

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 5–10 Saturday – Before he left New York Sam may have met the medium James Vincent Mansfield, seeking contact with his dead brother Henry Clemens. Sam wrote about the visit some ten years later in chapter 48 of Life on the Mississippi. Sam’s sometimes interest in spiritualism often resulted in lampoons of them [MTL 5: 41-3].

February 6 Tuesday – Bill paid to W.B. Willard, flour & grain merchant $8.50 for grain & oats [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].

January 1 Monday – Sam arrived in the evening to lecture in Association Hall, Indianapolis, Indiana – “Roughing It in Nevada” [Schmidt].

Sam was billed $21 by Hartford Drs. Taft & Starr for “professional services from July 1, 1871 to Jan 1 1872” [MTP].

January 1 Wednesday – Two bills paid to Drs. Taft & Starr for professional services for the same period, July 1 ‘72 to Jan. 1 ’73, for $7 and $46. Bill for $3 paid to Wm. Wander, Steinway & sons’ Celebrated Pianos, for timing and repair of piano. Bill paid to Mansury & Smith, carriage manufacturer for $23.15 in repairs [MTP].