In 1885 Thomas Handford published an interview with Sam Clemens' mother and his wife which appeared in a book sold by subscription through the R. G. Badoux Company of Chicago titled _Pleasant Hours with Illustrious Men and Women_. In the interview Jane Clemens stated her son was more like Huck Finn than Tom Sawyer and also related how she tried to exact a promise from Sam in the presence of his father's coffin. Livy is quoted as stating that Tom Sawyer's Aunt Polly and Mrs. Hawkins in _Gilded Age_ are direct portraits of Sam's mother Jane. It is difficult to discern whether Handford conducted this interview himself or whether it is a reprint from something printed previously. Anyone familiar with the first appearance of this interview? Barb