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 22 Monday – Dr. John Brown wrote to Sam
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 23 Tuesday – Sam wrote a short query to the editor of Punch, Charles William Shirley Brooks (1816-1874), and asked if he might send a short article [MTL 5: 442]. Note: Sam’s note has been surmised by the MTP as relating to the unpublished “About a Visit to the Doré Gallery in London” [MTL 5: 442n1]. Brooks’ response, if any, is not extant; nor did any Twain article appear in Punch.
September 24 Wednesday – In the evening after the theater, Sam and Livy learned of the suspension of funds at their New York bank, Henry Clews & Co. [Willis 85]. It wasn’t until early Jan. 1874 that the bank was able to resume business and pay all obligations in full. In 1886, however, Sam continued to believe that Clews had cheated him out of money [MTL 5: 441n3].
September 25 or 26, 1873 Friday
September 25 or 26 Friday – Sam sent a postcard from London to Henry Lee, accepting his invitation to visit the Brighton Aquarium, and asking that he wait about the plans to visit Paris until they saw him [MTL 5: 443].
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 26 Tuesday – Sam again wrote from Buffalo to James Redpath, setting Feb. 2 as the final date for his lectures [MTL 4: 460].
Sam and Livy also wrote to Charles C. Duncan, steamboat captain, regretting that they could not attend:
September 27 Wednesday – Sam’s article, “The Revised Catechism” ran in the New York Tribune [Camfield, bibliog.].
The City of Buffalo receipted Sam for $222.25 for city tax on the “Delaware st. house; Outer lot 50ft, front feet 60 ft, Feet deep 118” [MTP].
Napoleon Sarony, photographer, wrote from NYC to ask Sam to sit for a photo “any time you are in the city” [MTP].
September 27 Saturday – Sam and Livy revisited the Brighton Aquarium. Sam had a head cold. Both Livy and Sam were anxious about getting money from their New York bank, Henry Clews & Co. Sam suggested borrowing from Routledge & Sons [MTL 5: 443-4n1].
September 28 Thursday – Sam wrote from Buffalo to John A. Lant, a printer Sam had worked with as a boy, probably in St. Louis.
“Thank you kindly for the picture of the baby. But it seems to me you did not economise material to the best advantage: there is meat enough in this youngster for twins” [MTL 4: 461].
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 29 Monday – Sam sent a note and letter from the Langham to Louisa P. MacDonald, wife of George MacDonald and mother of eleven children. The communications were about invitations and missing Louisa when they called.
“…we just barely missed you both, & were so disappointed! And out of eleven children we couldn’t scare up even one” [MTL 5: 444-5].
September 29–October 3, 1872 Thursday
September 29–October 3 Thursday – Sam visited Magdalen College in Oxford sometime between these dates. The college was founded in 1458 and was remarkable for its 145-foot tower [MTL 5: 614n64]. (See Oct. 17, 1874 entry for article, “Magdalen Tower” that Sam wrote for The Shotover Papers, Or Echoes from Oxford.)
September 3 Thursday – Frank Fuller wrote to Sam, still lobbying for his penny postcard scheme:
My Dear Mark:—
It is evident now for what you were made. It was to take the inflation out of conceited inventors. You see, though, what this smart Aleck says.
September 30 Tuesday – Sam and Livy left baby Susy with nurse Nellie Bermingham and traveled to Paris with Henry Lee for a week’s stay. Nothing is known about their time in Paris, but it would be Sam’s second visit there, so he probably knew where to take Livy [MTL 5: 446].
September 4 Wednesday – Bill paid to Squires Grocers for purchases made Aug. 28, 29, 30, 31, Sept. 2, 4 totaling $6.11 [MTP].
September 4 Friday – Sam and Livy wrote from Elmira to John Brown. Sam wrote of working on the manuscript that would become The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, writing on average 50 pages a day. Soon afterward, Sam’s “well dried up” and he put aside the manuscript after burning a chapter he didn’t like [Powers, MT A Life 354]. Sam had not answered Brown’s July letter, so felt the need to explain.
September 5 Saturday – Sam wrote a note of thanks from Elmira to William W. Belknap in the matter of Sam’s nephew, Samuel Moffett, attempting to gain an appointment to the Naval Academy [MTL 6: 227].
September 5? To 8, 1873 Monday
September 5? To 8 Monday – The Clemens party took a ferry across the Irish Sea to Liverpool, and then traveled south to Chester some twenty miles. From Chester they went further south another thirty-five miles to Shrewsbury, where they were the guests of Reginald Cholmondeley (1826-1896) at Condover Hall. Sam wrote an account of Cholmondeley’s invitation. Sam used the name “Bascom” in Ch.
September 6 Friday – Sam gave a dinner speech at the Whitefriars Club in London at the Mitre Tavern (Published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 72-73). Sam was treated like a conquering hero, wined and dined and escorted to many sights. He was a sensation in London.
September 6 Sunday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Frank Fuller, responding to two letters. Sam declined to invest in Fuller’s investment opportunities, due to the high cost of Sam’s new house [MTL 6: 228].
September 6? Wednesday – Sam left Elmira bound for Washington, D.C. to file for a patent on his “Elastic Strap,” a strap placed at the back of a vest to tighten around the waist. The invention itself made the strap elastic, detachable and adjustable in length. It fastened to the vest with buttons and buttonholes and could be removed. It could also be used with pants and even ladies’ corsets.
September 7 Thursday – Sam arrived in Washington, D.C. [MTL 4: 454n1].
September 7 Saturday – Sam, along with Tom Hood, make a call on John Camden Hotten’s office. Sam went under the assumed name of “Mr. Bryce” to look over the man who had been publishing unauthorized copies of Mark Twain’s work in England. Hotten recognized Sam right away, but Sam stuck to being Bryce, and looked “glum and stern” [MTL 5: 165n1]. See Sept.