September 4 Tuesday – In Etretat, France Sam added 1,500 words to his JA manuscript [Sept. 9 to Rogers].
September 5 Wednesday – In Etretat, France Sam added another 4,500 words to his JA manuscript, for an aggregate of 6,000 words for the two days [Sept. 9 to Rogers].
September 6 Thursday – In Etretat, France, Sam felt burned out after his two-day output for JA. He wrote on Sept. 9 to Rogers, “My head hasn’t been worth a cent since.”
September 9 Sunday – In Etretat, France Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers that he’d overdone it.
September 11 Tuesday – In Etretat, France Sam began a letter to J. Henry Harper which he finished Sept. 12.
The MS [JA] arrived to-day [See Sept. 9 to Rogers], & I am sending word to Mr. Du Mond.
September 12 Wednesday – In Etretat, France Sam finished his Sept. 11 to J. Henry Harper. He wrote but a few lines about inserts to the MS and of missing later segments that he suggested the French custom house might have taken:
…still, they wouldn’t want literature that isn’t indecent, would they? [MTP].
Bainbridge Colby, the assignee of Webster & Co., cabled Sam:
September 14 Friday – In Etretat, France Sam wrote to his old friend William Dean Howells upon learning of the Aug. 28 death of Howells’ father, William Cooper Howells (1807-1894).
I have heard of your bereavement, & am aware through talks with John [Mead Howells] how heavy a stroke it was for you. It was a happy thing you went home; you would have reproached yourself else. Sympathy is for the living; & sincerely you have mine. Envy is for the dead [MTP].
September 16 Sunday – In Etretat, France Sam wrote a note to Bainbridge Colby authorizing H.H. Rogers to endorse checks for the first $500 from American Publishing Co. to Colby’s law firm of Stern & Rushmore [MTP].
Sam then wrote H.H. Rogers referring to the note sent Colby and if it wouldn’t do he would have Livy repeat the note. Sam also wrote of his writing woes:
September 18 Tuesday – The formal filings were made of assets and liabilities of the Charles L. Webster & Co. See Sept. 19 Times article.
September 19 Wednesday – The New York Times reported on the “Business Troubles” of Webster & Co., p.11.
September 24 Monday – At midnight in Etretat, France Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers. He’d made slow progress on JA over the past 27 days, though he’d lost about ten days “through head-fatigue and consequent incapacity.” He was nearing the end of Book II, and contemplated Book III, the last, would be difficult requiring a lot of time and painstaking work.
September 26 Wednesday – Sam was working on his JA manuscript and wrote H.H. Rogers on Sept. 30 that he’d reached a point in the work on Sept. 26 that he’d been anxious about and “struggled for.”
September 29 Saturday – An agreement of this date gave Frank Mayo sole rights to dramatize PW in the U.S., England and Canada. Sam was guaranteed 20% of the net profits [MTHHR 139n2]. Note: The play would open in Hartford on Apr. 8, 1895.
September 30 Sunday – In Etretat, France Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers.
As your letter hasn’t come, I judge that there wasn’t any news in the locker. There isn’t any at this end, either. Four days ago I got to the point I was struggling for and anxious about, and now that bridge is behind me and all right. It foots up 40,000 words since I arrived. Since then we have had visitors — relatives. I got through exactly in time for them. In front of me now is a long course of study and not much production — on the book.
October – Borderland magazine (London) I, p.558-60, ran an unsigned article, “Test Readings of Mark Twain’s Hands,” about the blind readings of Sam’s right hand by “Miss Ross,” “J.E.,” “Lucis,” and “E.L.C.” The article announced hope that in their next edition they might publish Sam’s “opinion upon the accuracy or otherwise with which strangers have hit off his distinguishing characteristics” [Tenney 22]. Tenney notes that Sam’s comments appeared in the Jan. 1895 issue, along with clear photographs of the front and back of his right hand.
October 1 Monday – The Clemens family left Etretat bound for Paris, but after four hours travel, they stopped at the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, due to Susy’s fever and congestion of the right lung [Oct. 5 to Rogers].
October 2 Tuesday – H.H. Rogers wrote to Sam, the letter not extant, but mentioned in Sam’s Oct. 13 to Rogers. Rogers included samples of the Paige typesetter’s work in the Chicago Herald.
October 4 Thursday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam discarded his first attempt at the Paul Bourget article and began a new one at noon, which he worked on till 2:10 a.m. [Oct. 5 to Rogers].
October 5 Friday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers.
We are stalled here, tight and fast. We left Etretat last Monday. Susy was not well; so we came four hours and stopped over here to let her have a rest. It turned out to be congestion of the right lung. Temperature during three days, 104, 103, then 101. Necessarily we were a good deal alarmed, but she is ever so much better now. We shall be captives here indefinitely, of course.
October 7 Sunday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam wrote a humorous letter to H.H. Rogers. It seems Sam had to make a quick trip to the bathroom at 2 a.m., and got lost in the dark, unable to tell which floor he was even on. He drew a layout of the hotel with a staircase zigzagging up the middle.
October 10 Wednesday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam wrote to Charles H. Webb about the failure of Webster & Co. The letter is obviously a response to an inquiry (not extant) by Webb. Sam included an etched portrait of himself made by Wall (not further identified) and signed by the artist.
October 11 Thursday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam wrote to Morse, the US Consul-General:
I thank you very much indeed for the papers, until I can pay you the principal.
Sam reported that Susy’s fever was gone and her congested lung healing; that they should be able to travel in a few days to Paris [MTP].
October 13 Saturday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam wrote to Frank Bliss after receiving his telegram. Bliss was getting ready to publish PW by subscription. Sam didn’t want a dedication in the book, claiming he’d “discarded the custom,” but pointed out the introduction, which was the opening paragraphs of the “Twins.” He answered questions about PW’s calendar and then advised that the family was “stalled” in Rouen for another two or three weeks [MTP].
October 15 Monday – The Dreyfus Affair began when Alfred Dreyfus was arrested for spying;. See Dec. 22 entry. Dolmetsch writes, “References to the Dreyfus affair permeate almost everything Mark Twain wrote in Vienna” (1897-1898) [173].
October 16 Tuesday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam telegraphed Alice H. Day, long time friend of Livy’s: “Wish you all bon voyage / Clemens” [MTP].