A Tramp Abroad: Day By Day

August 1 Thursday – Joe Twichell arrived in Baden Baden, Germany [MTNJ 2: 113]. Joe was prepared to spend six weeks hiking with Sam. On or about this day Sam wrote to Charles Dudley Warner. Sam had heard that his subsidy of Twichell’s trip was in the newspapers, and it upset him.

August 1 Friday – Duckett cites Walter Blair’s Mark Twain & Huck Finn, p.114 for a notebook entry not found in MTNJ 2. Sam’s chief criticism of Bret Harte’s fiction at the time was that it “aroused in the ‘upper classes’ too much sympathy for ‘whore’ and ‘burglars.’ ” Blair cites Notebook #14, 18, MTP: “Harte’s saintly wh’s and self-sacrificing sons of b’s” [Duckett 191].

August 10 Saturday – In the morning the men explored Dilsburg Castle [Rodney 103]. Sam and Joe started back to Baden Baden by train. They took a swift raft ride of the lower river to Heidelberg, plowing the raft into a bridge [103]. “Blazing hot in train.” They stopped at Friedrich. From Sam’s notebook:

August 10 Sunday – Sam’s notebook:

“We still have to have fires every few days—had one to-night. We have had fires almost all the time, in Rome, Munich, Paris, Belgium, Holland, Condover Hall & London, from the 1st of last September (Florence) till the present time—nearly 12 months” [MTNJ 2: 337].

August 11 Sunday – Sam and Twichell returned to Baden Baden. Livy, the children and the rest of the Clemens party had already gone on to Lucerne, Switzerland [Rodney 103]. From Sam’s notebook:

August 12 Monday – The men left Baden Baden by rail and arrived at Lucerne, Switzerland where they joined Livy, the children and the rest of the party who had been there a few days [MTNJ 2: 47].

August 13 to 14 Wednesday – Sam and Twichell rested and visited with Livy, Clara, and the children.

August 13 Wednesday – Henry Lee inscribed a copy of his book, The Octopus (1875) “To / Saml. L. Clemens / from his friend / The Author. / Henry Lee / Augt 13th 1879” [MTP].

August 14 Thursday – Sam went to the Royal Aquarium “with Rosa, J[ohn] & the ch[ildren]” and made notes of what he’d paid John the courier.

August 15 Thursday – The entire Clemens party took a two-day excursion to the Rigi-Kulm. They spent the night in a hotel on the Rigi to watch the sunset and sunrise.

In a letter of Aug. 20, Sam described the ascent and descent to his mother:

August 15 Friday – Bill paid to M. Fentum, wood turner and carver £5.12.6 for misc. [illegible items] [MTP].

August 16 Friday – The Clemens party completed their two-day excursion and returned to Lucerne.

August 17 Saturday – While Sam rested, smoked and wrote letters in Lucerne, Joe Twichell went solo on a three-day trip in the Alps, to St. Gottard Pass [MTNJ 2: 140n55].

August 17 Sunday – From Sam’s notebook about hearing the great Baptist preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892):

August 18 Monday – “Left London at 10.30 AM for Windermere—changed cars all day. Too much variety” [MTNJ 2: 339].

August – Sam’s notebook entry “New Pepys Diary,” shows he was reading Samuel Pepys’ Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, Esq., in 6 volumes (1875-79) [Gribben 539]. Paine writes that “Pepys’ Diary was one of the few books that [Sam] read regularly every year or two” [MTLP 489]. Sam jotted “Our Old Nobility” from articles in the Echo by Howard Evans which attacked hereditary aristocracy and also criticized the 

August 19 Monday – From Sam’s notebook: “The Yale cub who asked so many idiotic questions on the lake steamer” [MTNJ 2: 140]. Sam thought Lucerne “a charming place” but didn’t care for the “horde” of tourists that flocked there in the summer. Rodney concludes that, to Sam, “the antiquity of the Swiss city was more impressive than that of Heidelberg, its local color and natural beauty more appealing” [104].

August 19 Tuesday – From Sam’s notebook:

Went up Windermere Lake in the steamer.—Talked with the great Darwin [MTNJ 2: 339]. Note: Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882). Windermere is over 80 miles north of Liverpool; Condover some 70 miles south of Liverpool.

August 2 Friday – Sam and Joe took a short excursion (6 miles) to the popular Altes Schloss (Favorita Schloss), a conspicuous ruin on the summit of a hill outside town. Sam’s notebook holds an entry paraphrasing a guide book, that:

“…no tourist should fail to climb the mountain & enjoy the view. Hired boy to climb the Mt & examine (or enjoy?) the view. He felt well repaid for all his trouble.”

August 20 Tuesday – Sam wrote from Lucerne to Frank Bliss about Twichell inspiring him for a “better plan” for the book. Sam wouldn’t go to work “in earnest until…Munich in November.” The plan and title of the book were a secret, Sam wrote. He’d had rheumatism for two months, but had gotten the better of it. For a few months mail could be sent in care of Edward Meigs Smith, Lang’s Hotel, Heidelberg [MTLE 3: 77].

August 21 Wednesday – Sam hired a carriage and the group continued on to Interlaken, Switzerland. From Sam’s notebook: “Left in 4-horse ambulance. Proprietor gave children box” [MTNJ 2: 141].

August 21 Thursday – The Clemens party arrived in Liverpool. An hour later, Sam wrote from the Washington Hotel to Dr. John Brown, a letter of apologies for not being able to make the trip to Edinburgh to see him.

August 22 Thursday – From Sam’s notebook:

At Jungfrau Hotel, Interlaken—Superb view of the Jungfrau.

Confounded crow woke us all up at daylight.

Set your umbrellas up on these polished wood floors, down it goes. Step suddenly on them, down you go. The lowest snow on the Jf seems but little above the valley level [drawing inserted] [MTNJ 2: 141].

August 22 Friday – The Clemens family moved from the Washington Hotel to another, unknown Liverpool hotel, as referenced by his Aug. 21 letter to Brown [MTLE 4: 86].

D. & C. Mac Iver, Liverpool, sent Clemens six portage receipts for good shipped on the S.S. Gallia, totaling £451 [MTP].

August 23 Friday – Sam and Twichell said goodbye to the family and left Interlaken.