Summer 1881: Day By Day

September 14 Wednesday – Jane Augspurg wrote from Hartford to ask Sam if she might translate some of his works into German [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “From a translator”

September 15 Thursday – When Sam left Fredonia his mother accompanied him the three miles to the station at Dunkirk, then returned home. Sam waited at Dunkirk until 3 A.M. for a train to take him the 45 miles to Buffalo, where he stayed overnight at David Gray’s [Sept. 18, 19 letters to Fairbanks, Jane Clemens].

September 16 Friday – Sam left Buffalo and reached Elmira in the evening [Sept. 18 Fairbanks letter].

September 17 Saturday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Webster.

September 18 Sunday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Mary Mason Fairbanks. After relating his trip to Fredonia and back, Sam’s fatigue led him to declare, “I am an old man at 45—older than some men are at 80.” He urged Mary to visit them in Hartford, that he didn’t think he could stand a trip to “that remote region” (Cleveland) where she lived. He expected to be able to send her a copy of P&P by Dec. 1.

September – Based on Aug. 31 entry evidence, Sam probably wrote the Hamlet burlesque during this month.

September 19 Monday – James A. Garfield lost his long struggle. He was the second U.S. President to be assassinated. Chester A. Arthur would be sworn in as the new President on Sept. 20.

Sam wrote from Elmira to his mother, that it “took me two days to get rested again” from the trip to Fredonia, the return trip through Buffalo, and home. He was glad Livy and the children had not been along, but:

September 2 Friday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Webster, sending a design for the back & side of P&P. “Take perfect care of it, & don’t let it get injured.” Sam wanted a Kaolatype cast of it [MTP].

September 20 Tuesday – The Clemens family left Elmira and traveled overnight to New York. (See Sept. 17 to Webster).

September 21 Wednesday – The Clemens family checked into the Gilsey House (see Sept. 17 to Webster). They spent “a day or two” in New York. Their stay was spent looking after the Kaolatype business and arranging for the redecoration of the Farmington Avenue house, which had been under renovation since March [MTNJ 2: 399n148].

New York weather: 73 to 62 degrees F. No precipitation [NOAA.gov].

September 3 Saturday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Howells:

What I call my mind, has been in a state of fierce irruption during three successive days. The consequence is, I am on my back, burnt out, devastated, & merely smoldering. …

September 4 Sunday – In Elmira Sam wrote two letters to Charles Webster, responding to his letter of Sept. 2. Webster had written that the upper part of the house was finished if the hearths were not changed. Sam responded that yes, the hearths must be changed. “I have written to N.Y. for specimens of tiles to be sent to us here.” Sam had written to the firm of Wm. H.

September 5 Monday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Josiah G. Holland of Scribner’s, inquiring if he might “simultane” an article he’d sold them to an Australian magazine in Melbourne [MTP]. Note: Holland died on Oct. 12, just five weeks after Sam’s letter.

September 6 Tuesday – Sam telegraphed from Elmira to Charles Webster that the terms were satisfactory for a contract Webster was to frame to “suit” himself. Sam added that he would send money this day [MTP]. Note: the nature of the contract is not specified, but may have been with Garvie; see Webster’s of Sept. 9 to Clemens.

September 7 Wednesday – Sam wrote a twelve-page letter from Elmira to Charles Webster, “mostly detailed and intricate instructions” on Kaolatype. The final message was:

“My experience with Slote teaches me that this sort of letter should be destroyed. Therefore, read this till you are sure of its several points, then burn it” [MTBus 168].

September 8 Thursday – Felix N. Gerson wrote from Phila. to Sam, enclosing “an English version of Heine’s poem ‘The Lorelei,’ which I undertook to translate after perusing your ‘Tramp Abroad’” [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “A poor translation”; the poem enclosed from the Sept. 2 North American

September 9 Friday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Webster. He’d just received a telegram from the printers—Prince and the Pauper would be finished on Monday, Sept. 12. Sam asked Webster to take the engravings (for the cover) himself to Boston, call on Osgood and take him to “that fancy foundry…in that portion of Boston called Chelsea.” Osgood was to take charge of the casting and finishing so that Charley could return home to New York.

June 7, 1881:  Sam returns to Hartford.

June 8, 1881:  Sam gave a speech at the Army of the Potomac Banquet, Allyn House, Hartford:

June 9, 1881:  Sam went with a party by train to West Point for graduation festivities.  He returns to Hartford June 11th.