August 1 Friday – A.H. Kelland wrote from N. Haven to Clemens sending him an article similar to the one she once wrote on the death of the Democrat party (not in file) [MTP].
George C. Blanchard wrote from Fairfield Conn.—an oblique begging letter [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “from a fraud”
August 10 Sunday – In Boston, Howells wrote to Sam:
August 11 Monday – Sam wrote from Elmira to American Publishing Co., probably about the cheap editions being advertised by The Frank Coker News Co. of Talladega, Ala
“Unless you bring suit at once to enjoin these pirates, I must sue for the annulling of my contracts with you, upon the ground that you make no sufficient efforts to protect my copyrights from infringement” [MTP].
August 13 Wednesday – Bissell & Co. wrote to Clemens trying to reconcile his account [MTP].
August 14 Thursday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Webster—more about the Huck Finn proofs “If all the proofs had been as well read as the first 2 or 3 chapters were, I should not have needed to see the revises at all. On the contrary it was the worst & silliest proof-reading I have ever seen. It was never read by copy at all—not a single galley of it.” He added that the game had only a year to file patent; see Oct. 9 entry [MTP].
August 15 Friday – Bissell & Co. wrote to Clemens that the Am. Express in Europe would look up his dividend and advise [MTP].
August 16 Saturday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Webster, who evidently had advised that the furnace improvements in the Hartford house could be done for $750. Sam approved, but dictated that no workmen need to go up into the house from the cellar [MTP].
August 19 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Webster, asking for a copy of the Sellers as a Scientist play. Ask Howells or look in the:
“…safe in the billiards room. There must be a copy somewhere. I’m going to elaborate it into a novel. /Gerhardt is completing a most excellent bust of me.”
August 2 Saturday – Charles Eliot Norton wrote from Ashfield to invite Sam to their annual dinner, between the 17th and 26th of this month, whatever suited him; bring the wife, the children, his home was “elastic” [MTP].
August 21 Thursday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Karl Gerhardt, advising him to get letters of introduction from “Warner; he knows everybody in Washington…” [MTP].
August 22 Friday – William M. Laffan for the New York Sun wrote to advise Clemens: “I put her into type and I think her highly amusing and seasonable. She’s on the Boss’s proofs and, I take it, is going in on Sunday” (in the file a copy typeset of “Hunting for H——” unsigned) [MTP].
August 23 Saturday – James B. Pond wrote from Cottage City, Mass. The circular “brings hundreds of inquiries. All my letters are about Clemens & Cable” [MTP].
August 24 Sunday – Sam wrote from Elmira to George Iles, Montreal editor:
“I am on the warpath next winter, with George W. Cable—that is to say, on the platform. Therefore I dasn’t accept your & the Snowshoe Club’s kind invitation, for I shan’t know for some time, yet, whether my route is going to carry me through Montreal during the Carnival or not…” [MTP].
August 30 Saturday – Charles Webster wrote to Clemens: “It seems impossible to make any arrangement whereby the other Gen. Agts. Can sell ‘Huck Finn’ and ‘Tom Sawyer’ together, at a reduced price…” [MTP].
August 31 Sunday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Howells, thanking him “ever so much for reading that batch of the proof.” Sam regretted that he’d not be able to attend the first night of Howells’ opera A Sea-Change in November, due to his readings with Cable that were to begin “about Nov. 5” [MTP; MTHL 2: 500n6]. Howells wrote on Aug.
August 5 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to an unidentified person.
“I apologize for this rag of paper, & explain that I am cruising in strange waters, where paper is scarce. (Paper is always scarce in strange waters—& even in the other kind)” [MTP].
Percy Aylmer wrote from Durham, England to ask Clemens if he’d consent to having them publish a book entirely of his quotations that an unspecified young lady had compiled [MTP].
August 6 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Eliot Norton declining an invitation to the annual dinner for the arts in Ashfield Mass., pleading age and rheumatism for “so long a journey in the heats of summer.”
Some day, I hope, you will change your dinner-hour to winter; then I am likely to be close by & idle; also hungry. …
August 7 Thursday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Howells.
August 8 Friday – William F. Cody for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show wrote to Clemens [MTP].
Stephen C. Massett wrote from the Catskills, about Mrs. Sheffield, mother of Mrs. Bartholomew, “with whom you used to board & lodge on 16th street in 1869!” She was in NYC and would like to see Clemens [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “Tiresome Jeems / No answer”
August 9 Saturday – The Critic ran an article, “The Lounger,” unsigned, which noted the tact with which James B. Pond announced the upcoming lecture season, giving Mark Twain and George W. Cable billings which would cause neither to feel slighted [Tenney, Supplement American Literary Realism, Autumn 1980 p170].
June 17, 1884: The Clemens family’s annual trek to Elmira and Quarry Farm began. They left Hartford and traveled to New York City, where they spent the night.
July 1 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Webster, wanting to know how much was paid for the elder Mr.
July 10 Thursday – Sam wrote a one-liner from Elmira to James B. Pond:
“Yes, offer Cable $450 a week & expenses—but be sure & let me know the result by the 16th” [MTP].
July 11 Friday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Webster, acknowledging receipt of a check from American Publishing Co., but still waiting for one from Slote & Co. Keeping Webster hopping on a plethora of details and projects, Sam added:
As you have a couple of dull months, now, suppose you tackle my soon-to-be portable calendar, & heave your surplus energies into it [MTP].
July 12 Saturday – Charles Webster wrote to Clemens that Annie & the baby were doing well; he had to have the invoice & bill of lading on the statuette in order to get it out of customs [MTP].
July 12–August 14 Thursday – Sometime during this stretch, Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Webster bout the dwindling profits on the scrapbooks with Slote & Co.