March 31 Friday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam began a letter to Frank Bliss, that he added to on Apr. 2. Included were notes of a biographical sketch of Clemens from which Samuel E. Moffett might write the finished article.

I want SET NO 1 of the DE LUXE edition to go to Mr. Rogers, & to be charged to me (minus agent’s commission.)

April 1 Saturday – In Vienna at an unspecified banquet, Sam made four speeches [Apr. 5 to Howells].

April 2 Sunday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam finished his Mar. 31 to Frank Bliss, noting he had finished signing the pages for the deluxe Uniform edition and would express them the following day (Apr. 3). He enclosed a letter from a man in Iowa which he thought Bliss should answer as it was out of Sam’s line.

April 3 Monday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam finished his Apr. 2 to Poultney and Edith E. Bigelow.

Apr. 3. Would you recommend Guernsey? Or the Isle of Wight? I sort of warmly incline to the former.

Mrs. Clemens’ idea is not an inn, and of course not a pension [boarding house]. Nothing remains, then, but a furnished dwelling. That is probably not to be had.

How’s Devonshire? …

April 4 Tuesday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam replied to yet another invitation by James B. Pond for lectures. Sam said no, he didn’t like lecturing and only wanted to do it twice a year or so for fun—“…talking for money is work, & that takes the pleasure out of it.” Sam doubted any terms would entice him and didn’t “expect to see a platform again until the wolf commands.” He shared family plans to return to America early in October, and sent his love to “the Lotos boys” [MTP].

April 5 Wednesday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam added to his Apr. 2 letter to William Dean Howells. He related reading the serial segment of Howells’ Their Silver Wedding Journey up to the point where Jean came and took the magazine away. Sam confessed that after he had sold his stock at “a fine profit early in January” it has “never ceased to advance, & is now worth $60,000 more than” he’d sold it for.

April 6 Thursday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam added to his Apr. 2 and 5 letter to William Dean Howells.

Next Morning. I have been reading the morning paper. I do it every morning—well knowing that I shall find in it the usual depravities and baseness & hypocrisies & cruelties that make up Civilization, & cause me to put in the rest of the day pleading for damnation of the human race. I cannot seem to get my prayers answered, yet I do not despair.

April 8 Saturday – Joe Twichell wrote to Sam, enclosing a clipping on Christian Science. “…there can be no mistake about it,—Christian Science is yielding a rich pecuniary harvest to somebody.” Joe asked if Sam had seen a book he was reading, Anglo-Saxon Superiority: to what is it due? by a Frenchman, Edmond Demolins. Joe ended with “Come, Mark, when are you going to return to us? I am continually asked the question. You surely can’t have any home but Hartford.

April 10 Monday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to ask Chatto & Windus to send the 2-shilling, 6-pence edition of Omar Khayam [MTP].

April 11 Tuesday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria Sam signed a notice in German to Chatto Windus. The notice is by another hand, perhaps that of an attorney, unnamed.

April 12 Wednesday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam added to his Apr. 2, 5, 6 letter to William Dean Howells.

April 13 Thursday– At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam finished his Apr. 2, 5, 6, and 12 letter to William Dean Howells.

“13th I have been to the Knustausstelling [Art Exhibit] with Mrs. Clemens. The office of art seems to be, to grovel in the dirt before Emperors & this & that & the other damned breed of priests./ Yrs Ever / Mark” [MTP].

April 15 Saturday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to Frank Bliss, concerning the Apr. 3 letter of Charles R. Hall (enclosed):

April 18 Tuesday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to Annette Hullah, and enclosed an inscribed photograph by Alfred Ellis: “To Annette Hullah with my kindest regards.” The inscription is on a tiny margin at the bottom of the photo, and does not include his signature.

April 19 Wednesday – In Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to J. Henry Harper to recommend a Baroness for society correspondent of Harper’s Bazaar and of particulars for making an appointment [MTP: Paraphrase: American Art Assoc-Anderson Galleries catalogs; Apr 4, 1934, Item 129]. Note: full text, 250 words, not available.

April 20 Thursday – In Vienna, Austria, Sam replied to Wayne MacVeagh (whose letter is not extant).

“I am glad to be able to answer one at least of those questions definitely: that the family are in very good health & furnishing no support to repairers, except of course the dentists—their ministrations never cease in anybody’s family, I suppose.”

April 22 Saturday – In Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to Frank Bliss.

I am very glad to hear that the Autograph Edition is getting such a fine start.

….

I return that article. It is pure rubbish, & should be disinfected & used in the closet.

I wouldn’t put away any of my old-time stuff into a book which isn’t already in books. Not a line of it is worth preserving. It should be allowed to remain dead [MTP].

April 24 Monday – Poultney Bigelow wrote a postcard from Vichy, France to Sam.

Just arrived at this city of stinking springs & am vigorously flushing my guts every day while waiting for a water melon, which I hear, ripen in June at Murcia in Spain. I am now on my 12th doctor & he says I must stay here at least one month. We have left the 3 children at a French boarding school near Dinard on the Brittany coast…& we both propose to hire a villa there for 6 mos. & revel in animal delights [MTP].

April 25 Tuesday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to Samuel E. Moffett about the biographical sketch of Mark Twain to be used for the Uniform Edition:

Your letter [not extant], with the picture of the cordial boy, has arrived, & I have five minutes in which to answer.

April 27 Thursday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to John Kendrick Bangs.

Dear Sir: Do you think you could persuade Mr. Howells to come out of that polling-booth & let me keep game a while? / Supplicatingly / Mark Twain [MTP: Bangs, Francis H. John Kendrick Bangs. (1941) p.205]. Note: see Apr. 2 to 13 to Howells.

April 28 Friday – Sam’s notebook:

“Miss Harrison—date, Apl. 28/99: To our credit, $ 51,995.29 cash. Invested in American Smelting Co., $5,000—now worth $6,300. 50 pfd & 35 com—selling at 90 & 52” [NB 40 TS 55].

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].

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].

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.

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].