Day By Day Dates

Joe Twichell wrote to Sam.

I have been thinking of you all the morning. This is one of  those golden, perfect autumn days when ones desire to off somewhere among  trees, mounts to a passion… Now, Mark, let’s make a vow, that when we are once  more together we will use these heavenly days as they were meant to be used and  as we shall wish we had when we come to look back on life [MTP]. Note: there is  much more and more depth to this letter, but space here does not allow it all.

Sam’s notebook:

In Santa Croce to-day a well dressed young woman followed us,  begging for centimes.

An old frowsy woman watched where I laid my cigar, then  approached us with it as Chamberlain & I came out & said she rescued it  from some boys (who had found it in the dark!) & wantd 5 cents for her  trouble. She followed us into the street & finally cursed us & called  down sudden death upon us [MTNJ 2: 229].
 

Sam  wrote to Valentine Besarel, letter not extant but mentioned in Besarel’s Oct. 27.
 

Sam’s notebook:

Uffizzi Gallery, Sunday (free day,)

What a shamed look people have who go along with a guide—they  nod annoyedly at every statement he makes, & they scarcely look at the  object he points at; often not at all; neither look they to one side or the other, or at anybody; they seem to have but one desire: to get through with  this painful trial & go free again [MTNJ 2: 234].

The Clemens family left Florence for Rome. The trip took 8 hours  and they arrived at 4:30 PM [MTNJ 2: 235]. The party stayed at  the Hotel d’Allemania. Sam noted the cost of  the rooms, three coffees, one beefsteak and three “table d’hotes” (communal  table, full-course meal) totaling 48.25 francs, paid at 5 PM [281].
 

In his notebook, Sam concluded that the “Immaculate  Conception has ceased to be a wearying & worrisome question.” What the  Ecumenical Council should “decide once & forever” was, “who was it that  struck Billy Patterson?” (From Wm. Porter’s collection, The Big Bear  of Arkansas and Other Sketches) [MTNJ 2:  235]. More from Sam’s notebook:

It is the more ridiculous spectacle to see a Virgin or a  copper Aristotle stuck on top of every stately monument of the grand old  “pagan” days of Rome.

Sam visited the Sistine Chapel,  commenting on work by Raphael. He counted 25 courtyards in the Vatican.  He noted the Tom of the Virgin and wrote “How  she would draw in N.Y.” [MTNJ 2:  237].

Gustavo Sarfatti wrote to Sam (Sept. 29 from  Sarfatti enclosed) [MTP].
 

Sam received letters from Will Sage and Joe Twichell about payments required and red tape needed to  get the “two boxes of Clocks” through customs. He  made a note to do a chapter in his book about “this most scoundrelly &  infernal custom house system” [MTNJ 2: 237].

Sam’s notebook:

November – In Sam’s  notebook there’s an entry “Little Pedlington” which refers to John Poole’s   1839 book, Little Pedlington and the Pedlingtonians. Gribben quotes E.  Cobham Brewer, calling this “an imaginary place, the village of quackery and  can’t, egotism and humbug, affectation and flatter” [553].

Sam noted “Turganieff’s Visions”  and “Visions, a Phantasy, by Tourganieff—in the Galaxy”  in his notebook [MTNJ 2: 244, 247].

–  Sam’s notebook:

“Great festa-day—shops all closed. Attended High Mass in a  chapel of St. Peters. Heaps of people of all ages sexes & professions  kissing (& scrubbing) St Peter Jupiter’s toe. He looks like a black negro  & has short crisp hair” [MTNJ 2: 239].

– Sam wrote from Rome, Italy to Joe  Twichell. After discussing the  matter of a clock Sam had purchased, sending it home through Will Sage, which caused all sorts  of red tape, Sam sent compliments on Joe’s letters.

– Sam’s notebook:

“…spent all day in Vedder’s lofty studio & the evening  with him & another artist spinning yarns & drinking beer in a quiet  saloon. Big row in the street but no bloodshed.” 

 Elihu Vedder was an American artist who kept a studio in  Rome. Sam visited the studio several times [MTNJ 2:  242]. (See Nov. 9 entry.)

– Sam’s notebook:

“Visited  the Catacombs. One mummy (shapeless) & one slender young girl’s long hair  & decaying bones— both in stone coffins & both between 15 & 1600  years old.”

– U.S. Consulate sent Venetian Bills of Lading for things purchased [MTP].

– Sam viewed the painting “Bambino” at Ara  Coeli.

It is  always safe to say a thing was mentioned by Pliny. He was the father of  reporters—he mentioned everything.

Suit of  clothes in Heidelberg, $18; in Milan (slop-shop) $9; in  Rome (fancy tailor, $25  & $38—both very fine—the latter half dress. At home, $65 to 90 [MTNJ 2: 246].

– “Cooks agent gone off junketing—for a few days—can’t get any tickets” [MTNJ 2: 245].
 
In  a letter dated Nov. 10, Livy wrote to her mother:

We  have enjoyed Rome immensely & wish so very much that we were  going to spend three months here.  

– Livy wrote from Rome to her mother (see Nov. 9 entry).

 – The Clemens family left Rome at 10:50 AM, and returned to  Florence, Italy at 6:50 PM, where they spent the night at the Hotel de  New York [MTLE 3: 97; MTNJ 2: 248].  They were headed north to spend the winter in Munich, a 600 mile  trip with 36 hours on slow trains, and four overnight hotel stops to make the journey more bearable for Livy [Rodney 115].  Sam’s notebook:

“… saw splendid torchlight processions crossing the 2 Arno  bridges to see the King, at the Pitti palace.

– The Clemens family  stayed a day and another night in Florence [MTLE 3: 97].

  – The Clemens family left Florence at 10:45 AM and reached Bologna, Italy at 4:15 PM [MTLE 3:  97; MTNJ 2: 249].  Sam made a notebook entry that he stopped here to see Guiseppe Mezzofanti (d.1849), “because  he knew 111 languages, but he was dead” [MTNJ 2: 266].

– The Clemens family left Bologna at noon and traveled until 10:30 PM to reach Trent in the  Austrian Tyrol, by way of “Modena, Mantua, & Verona.” Sam was acting as the  courier for the group and thought himself “a shining success…so far” [MTNJ 2: 249; MTLE 3:97].

– The Clemens family was up at 6 AM and traveled all day. After twelve hours they arrived in Munich, Germany. At 7 PM they arrived, in “drizzle & fog at  the domicil which had been engaged for us ten months before” [MTLE 3: 94].

– Sam wrote from Munich, Germany to  Howells, giving him the itinerary  of the trip from Rome. At first they did not much like the place:

  – Sam “took a workroom at 45 Nymphenstrasse—Frau  Kraze.” He made a purchase on the “Tobacco shop on corner under Hotel Bellevue,  opp. Karls Thor” and noted amounts spent [MTNJ 2: 283].

November 20 Wednesday – In Munich, Sam wrote letters to Joe Twichell and Susan Warner. Sam had lost his Switzerland notebook and wrote that if it remained lost he wouldn’t try to write the volume of travels he’d planned.