October 30 Thursday – Sam wrote on board the Batavia to Dr. John Brown. Everyone in Sam’s party save himself had been seasick for the first three days, but now it had been:
“…smoothe, & balmy, & sunny & altogether lovely for a day or two now, & at night there is a broad luminous highway stretching over the sea to the moon, over which the spirits of the sea are traveling up & down all through the secret night & having a genuine good time, I make no doubt.”
October 31 Tuesday – Sam lectured in Milford, Mass. – “Artemus Ward.” Sam wrote from Milford to Livy.
October 4 Friday – In the evening Sam telegraphed from London to Henry Lee that 1 PM the next day would be acceptable to meet. “The best way will be not to get up till one. If you don’t find me at breakfast, skip right up in the lift” [MTL 5: 191].
October 5 Saturday – Sam wrote from London To Charles Dudley Warner, all about the toast he’d given at the Sheriff’s Dinner. Sam was surprised at the reception received when his name was announced. He claimed to be “No. 75 in a list of 250 guests,” and the only name to receive a “spontaneous welcome,” that “completely knocked” him out. “I didn’t know I was a lion,” he wrote [MTL 5: 191-2].
October 6 Friday – Sam wrote from Hartford, with an affidavit by John Hooker, to Mortimer D. Leggett (1821-1896), Commissioner of Patents, about the date of his ideas for the elastic strap. Sam included his first drawings, for use with vests and pants. Henry C. Lockwood had applied for a patent on a similar device only six days after Sam’s application [MTL 4: 462-4]. Note: the Oct.
October 6 Sunday – Sam wrote from London to Moncure D. Conway, declining an invitation to Stratford to enjoy the hospitality of Charles Edward Flower (1805-1883), wealthy retired brewery owner and four-time mayor of Stratford-on-Avon. Sam and Livy would accept another invitation in 1873 [MTL 5: 195-6].
October 6 Monday – Dr. John Brown wrote to thank Sam and Livy for their letters and asked what they were doing in Paris. “That is a delightful Susie letter…give her my love” [MTP].
October 7 Monday – Bill paid to E.D. Roberts, stoves, ranges and furnaces; for “2nd hand cylinder stove,” and parts $16.48 [MTP]. Livy was often frugal with the money when Sam was away. Purchasing a used stove reflects this. Hatch & Tyler delivered coal to the Clemens home [MTP].
October 7 Tuesday – Sam and Livy returned to London. Sam, probably still anxious of his suspended bank funds, agreed to lecture—a solution he’d often turned to when feeling pinched in the pocketbook. His lecture schedule was to begin on Oct. 13 and was arranged by George Dolby. Six London dates were booked for Sam’s “Sandwich Islands” talk, and one final lecture in Liverpool for Oct. 20.
October 8 Wednesday – Sam autographed a post card about tickets and an invitation to dinner for Henry Lee, who it is assumed responded at once to Sam’s notice about lecturing. Sam then sent two notes that he was writing to Dolby asking for tickets for Lee [MTL 5: 450-1].
October 9 Monday – Sam wrote from Hartford to James Redpath, asking him to send the first part of his lecture list “& let me see where I am to talk.” He requested a copy be sent to Bliss.
October 9 Thursday – Sam’s letter of Oct. 7 to the London Standard was published in that paper [MTL 5: 448].
The Daily Graphic featured a front page arrangement of nine oval engraved portraits, with Mark Twain in the middle [eBay Sept. 23, 2009, Item 370249824620].
September 1 Sunday – Sam wrote from Liverpool, England to Livy.
Livy darling, I wonder if you are back home yet; & I wonder how the Muggins is [pet name for Susy]. & what she looks like. I seem only a stone’s-throw from you & cannot persuade myself that this is a foreign land & that an ocean rolls between us. I feel very near to you.
September 1 Monday – The Clemens family went to Dublin, where they took rooms at the Shelbourne Hotel for several days, probably until Sept. 5 or 6 [MTL 5: 432].
September 1 Tuesday – Louis John Jennings (1836-1893) editor of the New York Times (1869-76) wrote apologies to Clemens for the misunderstanding. Sam had thought Jennings had turned down an offered piece and accused him of “overcharging” by asking $250. “I honestly thought that the article you were kind enough to offer to use was not worth to us $250—and as a matter of business I though it best to tell you frankly.
September 10 or 11, 1871 Monday
September 10 or 11 Monday – Sam stayed at the St. Nicholas Hotel probably one night, and then left for Hartford [MTL 4: 454n2].
September 10 Wednesday – Sam wrote a short from London to William S. Andrews (1841-1912), about being home in plenty of time to help Andrews prepare for an appearance at Association Hall in New York [MTL 5: 434-5].
September 10 Thursday – Sam and Livy, together with Clara Spaulding, left Elmira for New York City for a ten-day stay. They checked into the Hoffman House, one of the most elegant hotels in the city, two blocks from the Park Theatre where Sam planned to direct rehearsals for the Sept. 16 opening of the Gilded Age play [Powers, MT A Life 358].
September 11 Wednesday – Sam wrote from London to Livy about the great time he was having, though he wrote, “I accomplish next to nothing…. Have not written in my journal for 4 days—don’t get time. Real pleasant people here” [MTL 5: 154-5].
September 12 Thursday – Sam had several photographs taken at the studio of W. & A.H.
September 12 Saturday – Sam wrote from New York to Dr. Rachel B. Gleason, proprietor of the Elmira Water Cure who had consulted with Livy about her condition. Gleason gave treatments for profuse menstruation, which Livy evidently suffered from. Sam asked if Gleason would “write & tell a reliable lady physician here to come to the hotel & administer” Gleason’s treatments [MTL 6: 231].
September 12–13, 1871 Wednesday
September 12–13 Wednesday – Sam stayed two days in Hartford and then returned to Elmira on Sept. 13 [MTL 4: 454n2]. In Hartford Sam secured rent on the John Hooker house in Nook Farm, Hartford for a temporary residence, and probably looked after his book at the American Publishing Co.
September 13–November 11 Monday – Sometime between these dates Sam wrote a note to Henry Lee, mover and shaker in the building of the Brighton Aquarium. He developed a strong friendship with Lee. Sam wrote in his notebook:
September 14 Thursday – Sam wrote to an unidentified man:
“Dear Sir, /Your proposition is received. In reply I am obliged to say that my engagements are such that they debar me from accepting”[unknown amount of text and complimentary close missing; MTPO]
September 14 Saturday – Bill paid to Putnam Phalanx Market, grocers $14.38 [MTP].