June 26 Sunday – At the Grand Hotel Du Quirinal in Rome Sam wrote to Charles J. Langdon.
Dear Charley: / Jean, Katy & I had to halt when the rest left the Villa for good, on the 20th. Jean was sick. But she rallied, & we followed the others 3 hours later & arrived at the Hotel de la Ville about 8 p. m.
We were to remain there 4 days while the mourning-gowns were finishing.
June 27 Thursday – In Saranac Lake, N.Y. Sam replied to Abbott Handerson Thayer’s June 18:
Your hearty praises give me very great pleasure, & I thank you for speaking them out. When one is treading on an unpopular road it is a mighty help & refreshment to know that there are those whose hearts are with him.
June 27 Friday – The Kanawha docked in York Harbor, Maine, and the Clemenses took possession of their cottage, “The Pines,” so named because it stood in pines. Sam sent a telegram to H.H. Rogers:
“Housed and home by noon a perfectly lovely voyage / SLC” [MTHHR 489].
Livy wrote to Susan Crane of the place.
June 27 Saturday – Frank Bliss wrote a two-page typed letter to Sam concerning relinquishing contract rights for $50,000, and Collier’s possible entrance selling sets of Mark Twain’s books by subscription.
June 27 Monday – The Clemens party left for Naples, where they would sail the next day for America. The voyage would take fourteen days [June 26 to Langdon]. The NB entry shows the party stayed at the Hotel du Vesuvie.
June 28 Friday – In Saranac Lake, N.Y. Sam wrote condolences to John M.
June 28 Saturday – In York Harbor, Maine Sam wrote to Harry Leon Wilson after reading his book, The Spenders; A Tale of the Third Generation (1902).
“Between you & me & the gate-post, I think it’s a dam-nation good book! It cost me my day yesterday.
You owe me $400. But never mind it. I forgive you, for the book’s sake” [MTP].
June 28 Sunday – The New York Times, p. SM12 ran a humorous article, wherein “Alligator Jack” John B. Downing told a story about Mark Twain.
Mark Twain’s Roast Chickens.
Recently Major John B. Downing of Middleport, Ohio, was discussing army chicken stealing and the various ways the boys had of preparing them to be served. The Major was a Mississippi River pilot in his young days and stood at the wheel as a cub under the watchful eye of “Sam” Clemens, the Mark Twain of the present day.
June 28 Tuesday – Sam later wrote of the mix-up of this morning:
In Naples at 10 a.m. sailing-day I sent my courier to the local agent to inquire if all was right. He was told the casket was on board. The ship was to sail at 4. I arrived on board about 3, & was astounded to learn there were no certificates [for the casket], & that if I could not produce them the casket must be put ashore, because without them it would not be allowed to land in America.
June 28 Tuesday – Sam later wrote of the mix-up of this morning:
In Naples at 10 a.m. sailing-day I sent my courier to the local agent to inquire if all was right. He was told the casket was on board. The ship was to sail at 4. I arrived on board about 3, & was astounded to learn there were no certificates [for the casket], & that if I could not produce them the casket must be put ashore, because without them it would not be allowed to land in America.
June 29 Saturday – In Saranac Lake, N.Y. Sam wrote to daughter Clara, who had remained for a time in New York, probably for activities related to her singing career: “Hurry up here, Ashcat dear, before the mosquitoes & strawberries are gone. We are wanting to see you, & are all ready to welcome you.” Sam signed the note “Mongoose.” His first paragraph is a short spoof that begins by “What does the mongoose say? That the spider is right to smile” [MTP].
June 29 Sunday – In York Harbor, Maine Sam wrote to cousin, Dr. James R. Clemens in St. Louis.
We arrived here day before yesterday & are comfortably & smoothly keeping house already; I am at work & we are all feeling at home & in condition to put the summer through in good shape.
June 29 Monday – In Riverdale, N.Y. Isabel V. Lyon wrote for Sam to Franklin G. Whitmore.
“Mrs. Clemens wants me to ask if you will kindly see Mr. Jack Bunce about Mr. Clemens’s bust. Will you have a man sent there to pack it and ship it to Elmira—by freight. and all charges to be sent to Mr. Clemens. I saw Mrs. Clemens today for the first time. and she looks much better than I had expected” [MTP].
June 29 Wednesday – The Clemens party was en route in the Prince Oscar from Naples to New York.
Sam’s notebook: “Sailed last night at 10. The bugle-call to breakfast. I recognized the notes & was distressed. When I heard them last, Livy heard them with me; now they fall upon her ears unheeded. / This ship is the ‘Prince Oscar,’ Hamburg-American” [NB 47 TS 14].
June 3 Monday – At 1410 W. 10th in N.Y.C., Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers on an envelope from Whitmore’s long letter of May 23:
“These have come from Whitmore but not the big check-book.
“I have been hard at work ever since the time you didn’t turn up at Mr. Broughton’s, but I am coming down soon” [MTHHR 461]. Note: for the enclosures, see source n2.
June 3 Tuesday – Sam’s notebook: “Guest of E.W. Stephens. / Publish ‘Herald’ / Walter Williams, Editor ./ Columbia, Mo. / James Thayer Girauld, Secy P.B.K. will elect me honorary member” [NB 45 TS 16]. Note: P.B.K. =Phi Beta Kappa. Paine gives E.W. Stevens [MTB 1172]..
Livy’s diary: “The Misses Dodge here for tea” [MTP: DV161].
June 3 Wednesday – Sam went to Hartford, planning to arrive there just after noon. He stayed at the Whitmore home [June 1 to Whitmore].
Thomas F. Gatts wrote to Sam.
Your esteemed favor of May 30th, received this morning. I assure you that we give due consideration to every word and sentence of your letter.
While we would very much like to develop the National Mark Twain Association into local and State reading clubs; but we humbly bow to the will and desire of the man whose name we all love to honor.
June 3 Friday – On this day or the next at the Villa Reale di Quarto near Florence Sam wrote to William Dana Orcutt and Mary T. Orcutt. “They are superb—the most extraordinary flowers I have ever seen—& Mrs. Clemens sends her very best thanks for them & for your kind remembrance: & in this the rest of us join, with best wishes for you both & a cordial Alf wiedersehen!” [MTP: William D. Orcutt, In Quest of the Perfect Book 1926, p.172].
June 30 Monday – Livy wrote Harriet Whitmore thanking her for referring Isabel Van Kleek Lyon (1863-1958) for hire as a personal secretary. Livy wanted Miss Lyon to visit for “a few days” and interview. They had a guest room until Clara returned. If hired, Livy preferred that Isabel would find a boarding place outside of the home [MTOW 19]. Note: see source for full letter. Lyon came in mid July and was hired; she began employment with the Clemens family early in October.
June 30 Tuesday – In Riverdale, N.Y. Sam wrote an aphorism on Riverdale on the Hudson letterhead to an unidentified person: “Work & Play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions. / Truly Yours / Mark Twain / June 30/03” [Heritage Auction Galleries for Oct. 14-15, 2010; MTP].
Sam also wrote to George Walbridge Perkins, Sr., purchaser of the Wave Hill house earlier this year.
June 30 Thursday – The Clemens party was en route in the Prince Oscar from Naples to New York.
Sam’s notebook: “ Clara keeps her bed, & cannot bear to see any stranger. / The weather is beautiful, the sea is smooth & luminously blue” [NB 47 TS 13].
And, under the printed month-end notes heading right after this entry, he wrote: “In my life there have been 68 Junes—but how vague & colorless 67 of them are, contrasted with the deep blackness of this one!” [ibid.].
June 4 Tuesday – Sam’s canceled check survives:
Check # Payee Amount [Notes]
228 Mrs F A Ramsay 20.43
June 4 Wednesday – In Columbia, Mo., The University of Missouri conferred an honorary Doctor of Law degree, LL.D., upon Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Paine writes of the ceremony:
June 4 Thursday – Sam’s notebook: “Hartford. Interview, 4 p.m. with Ward Jacobs” [NB 46 TS 18]. Note: Ward Jacobs was a major stockholders in Am. Publishing Co. Sam sought his support for his buy-out plan. See June 5 NB entry.
In Hartford Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers, probably referring to the tribute he’d written to Rogers, who objected to it being published.
June 4 Saturday – Sam’s notebook: “I have secured an option on 2 villas: one at 115000 francs, the other at 150,000—cash. But both to be submitted to Livy for her decision” [NB 47 TS 11]. Note: see also Hill p.84.