May 11 Thursday – In his May 13 to William Dean Howells, Sam wrote of this evening: 

Day before yesterday [May 13] the Harper came [May issue with another installment of Their Silver Wedding Journey by Howells], & in the evening I hunted it up & was lying on the sofa, & kept interrupting the family’s repose with laughter & chuckles. Finally Mrs. Clemens (very late, I thought) asked “What is it?” 

“Portraits of you.”

“Where?”

May 10 Wednesday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to Percy Spalding.

The telegram came last evening & was very welcome. It decided us at once. We shall reach London May 31, by way of Bremen & the steamer “Lahn” to Southampton.

May 9 Tuesday – In Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to Franklin G. Whitmore.

“Wrote you to expect a check from New York, & to have Bliss send the July check to me (care Chatto.)”  [MTP].

Percy Spalding of Chatto & Windus sent a telegram to Sam that he rec’d this evening [May 10 to Spalding].

May 7 Sunday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to Bertha von Suttner. This has been misplaced at the MTP. Likely a decline to her early-May form letter invitation.

May 5 Friday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam replied Ambrose Poynter (1867-1923), who evidently had asked if he might use a story or a passage. Sam had no objections and the story and details were “set down in a book of mine—‘Old Times on the Mississippi,’” he didn’t remember the chapter.

May 4 Thursday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Sam cabled Chatto & Windus:

PLEASE FIND MADAME BLANCHE MARCHESI THROUGH HER CONCERT AGENT ASK HERE WHERE SHE WILL SPEND THE SUMMER AND WILL SHE TEACH MY DAUGHTER TELEGRAPH ANSWER AND KEEP THIS PRIVATE = CLEMENS [MTP]. Note: see May 10.

Sam also replied to John M. Hay, at this time US Secretary of State. (Hay’s incoming not extant.)

May 3 Wednesday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam cabled James R. Clemens and Katharine Boland on their marriage: “CONGRATULATIONS KATHARINE JAMES. CLEMENS” [MTP].

Sam wrote on a calling card to Percy Spalding: “Enclosed please find the papers, duly executed” [MTP].

May 1-7 Sunday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to Joe Twichell, enclosing a form letter invitation in German for a committee meeting from Bertha von Suttner.

April 30 Sunday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to Chatto & Windus asking them to spend one pound, no more, to obtain some illustrated books including Jack and the Beanstalk which were for sale at a charity bazaar [MTP].

April 29 Saturday – Wilfred R. Hollister and R. Harry Norman wrote to Sam of their intent to publish a book, Five Famous Missourians (published 1900 by Hudson-Kimberly Publishing, Kansas City, Mo.) Could he provide contacts who might report on “unpublished incidents” in Sam’s life? On May 13 Sam asked his nephew, Samuel E. Moffett, to answer their letter [MTP].