September 10 Saturday – Elisabeth of Bavaria (“Sisi”), Empress of Austria (1837-1898) was assassinated in Geneva by young anarchist Luigi Lucheni, who wanted to kill any royal, and had been unable to find a prince from the House of Orleans. Clemens would write on Sept. 13 to Joe Twichell of Elisabeth as, “That good and unoffending lady,” and that he was “living in the midst of world-history again.”

September 11 Sunday – Livy wrote to Susan L. Crane:

Of course all Austria is in grief over the terrible news of the assassination of he Empress. What a hideous thing it is!

September 13 Tuesday – In Kaltenleutgeben, Austria, Sam wrote to Joe Twichell [MTP].

September 14 Wednesday – In Kaltenleutgeben, Austria, Sam replied to John Y. MacAlister in London, whose recent invitation (not extant) to speak or preside at a meeting of the Savage Club in November had arrived. Sam couldn’t go unless business also demanded, for it took him six days to travel to London since he wouldn’t travel at night. And by no means would he preside:

September 17 Saturday – Sam went to the Hotel Krantz, where he watched the funeral procession of the slain Empress Elisabeth. He later wrote “The Memorable Assassination,” not published until 1917 in What Is Man? and Other Stories by Harper & Brothers. From that piece:

September 19 Monday – In Kaltenleutgeben, Austria, Sam wrote to John Brisben Walker, owner of Cosmopolitan.

Sure it’s the illegant conscience you’ve got, & few there be that can afford such an expensive one. Yes, the second cheque astonished—& gratified—me. I didn’t know what it was for; I merely uttered my little prayer of humble thanks & went & cashed it. Many would have thought God sent it; but I knew by the signature it was you.

September 20 Tuesday – Sam’s notebook entry of Sept. 21 related a dinner tale of this evening:

September 21 Wednesday – In Kaltenleutgeben, Austria, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers that he was “finishing an article about the assassination of the Empress” Elisabeth of Austria (see Sept. 17 entry for long excerpt from “The Memorable Assassination.”) If Edward Bok rejected and returned “My Platonic Sweetheart” Sam would like for Katharine I. Harrison to offer Bok the assassination piece, which would be shorter and cheaper. Life was less stressful now in Vienna:

September 22 Thursday – Lt. Colonel F.B. Bowyer-Lane of the Nimrod Club wrote to Sam, letter not extant but referred to in Sam’s Sept. 25 notebook entry [NB 40 TS 46].

September 25 Sunday – In Kaltenleutgeben, Austria, Sam wrote to Bram Stoker in London.

“Mr. Bowyer-Lane thinks that possibly he can place the ‘Bartel Turaser.’ What do you advise? Will you communicate with him? Or will you tell me what to say? Do you know him?” [MTP]. Note: “Lane-Bowen of the Nimrod Club” was the name Sam used in his July 6 to Chatto & Windus. He remains unidentified. “Bartel” is the play Sam had translated. See Mar. 15, Sept. 10 entries.

September 26 Monday – In Kaltenleutgeben, Austria, Sam wrote to Edward W. Bok offering “The Memorable Assassination” piece for $600, which he had just completed and sent to H.H. Rogers with a “photo or two of the Empress & the funeral procession” [MTP]. Note: Sam gave his future “New address: Hotel Krantz, Neuemarket Vienna.”

Sam also wrote to Katharine I. Harrison, letter not extant but referred to in this notebook entry:

September 28 Wednesday – Gribben writes on Alfred von Berger’s Habsburg. Marchenspiel in drei Acten (Vienna 1898):

October – Ladies’ Home Journal ran “The Anecdotal Side of Mark Twain, p. 5-6.

October 1 Saturday – In Kaltenleutgeben, Austria, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers, thinking he’d been indiscreet in writing J. Henry Harper on Aug. 30 (see entry).

October 3 Monday – In Kaltenleutgeben, Austria, Sam wrote to H.Q. Russ in Lynn, Mass. who had written (not extant) about ordering a bust of Sam done by the Russian sculptress, Theresa Fedorowna Ries.

October 5 Wednesday – Henry M. Alden for Harper & Brothers wrote to Sam:

October 7 Friday – In Kaltenleutgeben, Austria, Sam wrote to James B. Pond, asking when he saw the editor of Forum to ask about Sam’s article “About Play-Acting.” Sam had not heard back from Forum (the piece ran in the Oct. issue). He expressed hope that they would return home “just a year from now— everything promises well for that.” He also noted the passing of another old, wandering lecturer:

October 10 Monday – In Kaltenleutgeben, Austria, Sam wrote to Edward W. Bok, editor, Ladies’ Home Journal.

A good deal of the Autobiography is written, but I never work on it except when a reminiscence of some kind crops up in a strong way & in a manner forces me; so it is years too early yet to think of publishing— except now & then at long intervals a single chapter, maybe. I intend to do that. Someday. But it would not answer for your magazine.

October 11 Tuesday – In Kaltenleutgeben, Austria, Sam wrote to the Paul E. Wirt Fountain Pen Co., Bloomsburg, Penn. with what appears to have been a prepared testimonial:

With a single Wirt Pen I have earned the family’s living for many years. With two, I could have grown rich. / Mark Twain [MTP].

Note: See insert: 1904 advertisement claimed that Sam used the Wirt pen for 25 years, or since 1879.

October 12 Wednesday – In Kaltenleutgeben, Austria, Sam wrote to Chatto & Windus, to give them his new address at the Hotel Krantz, NeuerMarket, Vienna. “We go there tomorrow” [MTP]. Note: The family did not check into the Krantz until Oct. 14 [NB 40 TS 47].

October 13 Thursday – Joe Twichell wrote to Sam, enclosing a note of thanks from Brander Matthews, to whom Joe had sent compliments from Sam. “Here is also a leaf from a recent issue of “ the Spectator” he thought interesting. “What wouldn’t I give for a few afternoons of our pedestrian company out on the country roads and into the autumnal woods just now beginning to turn.” He added that Sam’s article in the last Forum on play-acting was perfect.

October 14 Friday – The Clemens family left Kaltenleutgeben, and moved into the Hotel Krantz in Vienna [NB 40 TS 47].

October 15 Saturday – The New York Times, Oct. 30, p. 7, “Coffee Houses In Vienna…Mark Twain’s Warm Eulogy,” with dateline Oct. 15:

October 17 Monday – At the Hotel Krantz, Austria, Sam wrote to Bettina Wirth. He explained the English expression, “So-long,” and the double-standard of its application.

October 18 Tuesday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to Frank Bliss.

The 3 books have come. Many Thanks.