Clemens Family Relocates to Europe: Day By Day

January 23 Wednesday – At 169 rue de l’Université in Paris Sam wrote to John D. Adams of the Century Co. enclosing a “few alterations” to a JA excerpt and asking for proofs of the rest of the parts; he hadn’t thought it necessary but admitted that was a mistake and was glad that Henry M. Alden “had that inspiration” [MTP].

January 24 Sunday – Sam’s notebook from Berlin:

When I had been in bed 11 days, Frau von Versen came Jan. 24, & brought a note inviting me on the part of the Emperor to come to the palace at 11.30 a.m. & witness the consecration of some flags. I wrote my thanks & regrets. Frau von V. came again that day or the next & said the Emperor had commanded her to prepare dinner for him & me in her house — the date of the dinner to be the day that I shd be well enough [NB 31 TS 21].

January 24 Tuesday – In Florence, Italy Sam wrote to Frederick J. Hall.

I sent the notes yesterday.

A friend of ours who is intimate with Alden says he was aggravated because he did not get the £1000000 Story; so I stopped my work a day or two ago to see if I could write something that would meet his views. However I’ll not send the article now yet awhile.

January 24 Wednesday – In New York at the Players Club, Sam ordered a wakeup call for 8 a.m. then “ran out” to H.H. Rogers’ home at 9 a.m. and “talked business until half past 10, arranging a scheme for suppressing the remaining royalties.” Such plans were aimed at increasing the value of Sam’s royalties. Sam then caught the 11 a.m. train for Boston, arriving at 6 p.m. He shaved and dressed by 7 p.m.

January 25 Monday – In Berlin, Sam began a letter to Frederick J. Hall, which he added a PS to on Jan. 27. He answered Halls’ Jan. 7 and Jan. 12 letters (neither extant), and added to Livy’s letter of Jan. 23. Sam wrote a laundry list of items for Hall’s consideration and execution. Sam noted first that the “enclosure” referred to in Hall’s Jan.

January 25 Thursday – In Boston at Annie Fields’ home, Sam wrote to Livy.

I had to turn out at 9 this morning & go down town & attend to a matter of business which kept me till 2: then I went to the theatre & talked; left there at 4 & been running and busy ever since.

January 26 Friday – In Boston, Mass. Sam wrote a two-page letter to Jeanne Chalmers of that city.

January 26 Saturday – At 169 rue de l’Université in Paris, Sam received H.H. Rogers’ Jan. 15 letter. He would respond on Jan. 29.

January 27 Wednesday – At the Hotel Royal in Berlin Sam finished his Jan. 25 letter to Frederick J. Hall, with a lengthy PS. He enclosed a “dated check” for $2,000 and “some undated ones for $1,000 each.” He directed Hall to put these amounts with the Wall Street agent Halsey to be invested in Livy’s name, and to do likewise with any copyright or interest payments Webster & Co. might pay him.

January 27 Saturday – In New York at the Players Club, Sam got up at 8 a.m. and answered “an accumulation of letters” and a note from H.H. Rogers. He sent five telegrams; had a “tedious interview” with Charles E. Davis, who told of Rogers’ “bombshell” dropped into the Conn. Co.’s camp on Jan. 25:

January 27 Sunday – The New York Times, p.27, “Mark Twain’s New Volume” praised the illustrations in the book version of Pudd’nhead Wilson, and the Comedy Those Extraordinary Twins, published on Nov. 28, 1894. The Century installments were illustrated by Louis Loeb. Frank Bliss hired two little-known illustrators for the book, F.M. Senior and C.H. Warren, who came up with 432 drawings to be used in the margins [1996 Oxford ed.

January 28 Saturday – In Florence, Sam wrote a short note to Andrew Carnegie, and enclosed it in a letter to Frederick J. Hall:

Won’t you let me introduce to you my partner, Mr. F.J. Hall — & won’t you let him submit a project of mine to you & see what you think of it? [MTP]. Note: likely the desire to unload LAL.

To Hall:

January 28 Sunday – In New York Sam wrote at 9:30 a.m. to Livy in Paris of the goings on the night before (see Jan. 27 entry). Note: Paine’s volume [MTLP 2:] begins the letter at this 9:30 a.m. addition, but it was added to a letter Sam began at noon on Jan. 27.

Sunday, 9:30 a.m.

January 29 Sunday – In the evening, Sam dined with William James. James wrote the next day (Jan. 30) to Francis Boott:

January 29 Monday – In New York at Sherry’s, Sam attended a reception held by the Kindergarten Association. From the NY Times of Jan. 28, p.13 “The Social World”:

January 29 Tuesday – At 169 rue de l’Université in Paris Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers.

Your felicitous and delightful letter of the 15th [not extant] arrived three days ago and brought great pleasure into the house. I note what you say about helping me with your heart and head and pocket in the matter of the uniform edition; and I shall surely call on the first two gratefully; and if I find I can’t pull through without invading the third, why then I’ll attack that if the edition promises to justify such conduct.

January 3 Sunday – Another of Sam’s letters from Europe ran in McClure’s Syndicated newspapers, including the Boston Daily Globe, p.17 “MARK TWAIN IN JAIL,” datelined “At large in Europe,” Dec. 23.

Mrs. K.B. Barlow, superintendent at the Industrial Home School in Georgetown, D.C. wrote to Sam with her own experiences after reading the “Mental Telegraphy” article [MTP].

January 3 Tuesday – Sam added a PS to his Jan. 2 to Whitmore.

Is Mr. Arnot’s receipt for $50,000 worth of royalties still in the Safety Deposit, or in the course of the Mallory negociations did it get back into his hands? SLC

Merry-next-Christmas & Happy-last-New years to you!

It is a wonderful day — Florence is a ghost — looks a ghost — this is the first time she has put on snow. And, as always, it is merely to show herself off [MTP].

January 3 Wednesday – In New York on the stationery of the Office of Woodlawn Cemetery, 20 E. 23rd Street, where the Knevals brothers (of the Conn. Co.–See Dec. 7, 1893) were directors, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers.

January 3 Thursday – At 169 rue de l’Université in Paris Sam wrote to Chatto & Windus. Sam thanked Andrew Chatto for books received the day before. He singled out Walter Besant’s London.

January 30 Saturday – The Illustrated London News ran a third and last segment of “At the Shrine of St. Wagner.” Prior segments ran on Jan. 2, and 9, 1892 [Willson list, Univ. of Texas at Austin].

J.T. McDonald wrote from N.Y. to Sam, responding to his article on Mental Telegraphy in December’s issue of Harper’s [MTP].

January 30 Tuesday – Sam finished his Jan. 27 to 30 letter to Livy:

To-morrow (Tuesday) I will add a P.S. if I’ve any to add; but whether or no I must mail this to-morrow, for the mail steamer goes next day.

— —

5.30 p.m. Great Scott!, this is Tuesday! I must rush this letter into the mail instantly.

Just been over to blow up the Century people. Evidently they have neglected to send you the lacking $2,000. It’s too late for tomorrow’s mail, but it will start Saturday.

January 31 Sunday – Sam’s fame is reflected in a squib in the N.Y. Times, which announced he’d been “confined to his bed for a week…suffering with a bad cold,” but was “now recovering” [p.2 dateline Jan. 30, included in “Education in Germany”].

January 31 Wednesday – Fatout lists a reading for Sam at Mrs. Gertrude Cowdin’s in New York City [MT Speaking 661]. Note: The undated MTP TS of this invitation, however is as follows:

My dear Mr. Clemens

Won’t you come in to a very informal & impromptu spree on Saturday evening about ten thirty. Our friend Mr. Reid is coming & I have warned him not to appear without you.

January 4 Monday – Sam and Livy left the girls with Sue Crane at the Hotel Royal and traveled to Ilsenburg, Germany in the Hartz Mountains [Jan. 9 to Trumbull]. Sam’s notebook calls the trip “ostensibly four but really seven hours from Berlin.”

Stayed 8 days in the house of Pastor Othmann. He & his wife lovely people. The stoves in our parlor & bedroom not satisfactory. I caught a heavy cough.