Vol 3 Section 0078

May 31 Monday – At 23 Tedworth Square in London, Sam wrote to Ainsworth R. Spofford, enclosing his signed application form on American Publishing Co.’ s letterhead for renewing copyright on IA, The form carries a July 12 date [MTP].

Sam also signed the renewal copyright for IA form and returned it to Frank Bliss [MTP].

Sam also wrote a squib to the London correspondent for the N.Y. Journal, Frank Marshall White:

“James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness, the report of my death was an exaggeration” [MTP]. Note: this also in Sam’s notebook; See May 6 entry.

June – At 23 Tedworth Square in London, Sam wrote to Chatto & Windus—a preliminary “page by itself” draft for inclusion in the front of FE, or, as it would be called in England, More Tramps Abroad (due to the past success there of A Tramp Abroad). Only the dedication, slightly changed, to Harry Rogers made it into the book. ,

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Of the seventy Innocents who sailed in the “Quaker City Excursion” twenty-eight years ago, I am the only innocent one still living. I called the record of the trip “The Innocents Abroad” & the title plausibly suggested that all the excursionists were without guile, but that was a courteous exaggeration. Strictly, the title described only two of us. The other one is no more. / June, 1897 Mark Twain

THIS BOOK

Is affectionately Inscribed to my young friend

HARRY ROGERS

With recognition of what he is, & apprehension

Of what he may become unless he form himself

A little more closely upon the model of

THE AUTHOR

[Sothebys Lot 86 Item 165626].

Harper’s Monthly, June issue, included a review of How to Tell a Story and Other Essays by Laurence

Hutton. “Singles out for praise the title essay, ‘Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses,’ and ‘In Defense of Harriet Shelley,’ adding: ‘Whenever Mr. Twain makes up his mind to “citify his English,” as Lowell puts it, it will be found to be vigorous, nervous, flexible, direct English; and it presents ideas which are well worth listening to and heeding” [Tenney: “A Reference Guide Seventh Annual Supplement,” American Literary Realism, Autumn 1983 p. 168].

Sam’s notebook entry refers to Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin, Son of Parsifal opera. “Clemens pretended to think Bach or Mendelssohn wrote the “Wedding March,” then corrected himself” [Gribben 731: NB 42 TS 1].

June 1 Tuesday – The Hartford Courant carried an article on June 3, datelined London June 1, “Mark Twain All Right – A Chat With Him Day Before Yesterday” from the N.Y. Journal by Frank Marshall White:

Mark Twain was undecided whether to be more amused or annoyed when a “Journal” representative informed him to-day of the report in New York that he was dying of poverty in London. …

“The report of my death was an exaggeration. The report of my poverty is harder to deal with. My friends might know that unless I were actually dying in poverty I should not live in poverty when I am receiving offers to lecture by every mail. The fact is that I was under contract to write the book that I have just finished or I should have accepted these offers” [Note: interestingly, this was in Sam’s notebook dated June 2].

SLC used mourning border for most letters from Susy’s death on, then from Livy’s death on.