May 15 Monday – The New York Times, p.5 ran an article about a new society, formed in April. Sam was named among the members. The object of the group was “to bring together, socially, the large number of men who have been identified with the development of the West”:
SOCIETY OF WESTERN MEN.
— — — —
It Promises to Flourish and Be Hospitable in This City.
May 16 Tuesday – 1,200 miles at sea, en route from New York to Genoa, Italy on the Kaiser Wilhelm II, Sam wrote to Annie E. Trumbull, delighted at her book (probably White Birches, just published):
It is a compact, orderly, symmetrical work, it lifts the reader to the dignity of its own high plane & keeps him there, & is singularly free from laziness, unconsequentialities, & irrelevant excursions. Yes, it is compact, compact [MTP].
May 17 Wednesday – Sam was en route to Genoa on the Kaiser Wilhelm II.
May 18 Thursday – Sam was en route to Genoa on the Kaiser Wilhelm II. Sam’s notebook:
May 19 Friday – Sam was en route to Genoa on the Kaiser Wilhelm II. Based on an account of the voyage by H. W. Mead to the editor of the Brooklyn Eagle, June 25, 1893 p.6, “Brooklyn People in Lucerne,” “On the sixth day we came to and passed the Azores, with two of the islands in sight.” The article relates some of the entertainment on the voyage, including a contribution by Mark Twain:
May 20 Saturday – Sam was en route to Genoa on the Kaiser Wilhelm II.
May 21 Sunday – Sam was en route to Genoa on the Kaiser Wilhelm II. Sam’s notebook:
Sunday, May 21. Eight days out. Shall reach Gibraltar Tuesday morning & Genoa Thursday night. / Day after day of “considerable” swell, but the ship moves on a level keel, unaffected by it. Apples lie on my table in my room day & night undisturbed. It is a wonderful ship in this regard [NB 33 TS 12].
May 22 Monday – Sam was en route to Genoa on the Kaiser Wilhelm II.
May 23 Tuesday – En route from New York to Genoa, Italy on the Kaiser Wilhelm II, Sam wrote a short note to Chatto & Windus, asking them to send a volume of his sketches containing The Jumping Frog to Captain Störmer of the Kaiser Wilhelm II, in care of Leupold Fratelli, Genoa, and charge it to his account [MTP].
Sam’s notebook:
Reached Gibraltar Tuesday at dawn. I did not go ashore. We sailed again at 8 o’clock [NB 33 TS 11].
May 24 Wednesday – Sam was en route to Genoa on the Kaiser Wilhelm II. Sam’s notebook:
Wednesday, May 24. Sailing along the Balearic Isles this forenoon. Due at Genoa tomorrow night. A perfectly smooth voyage, but unspeakably tedious. I am older by ten years than I was when I left New York. That fact is, the voyage is too smooth [NB 33 TS 13].
May 25 Thursday– Sam reached Genoa on the Kaiser Wilhelm II. His notebook gives 7 p.m. as the time of arrival [NB 33 TS 13]. Note: He spent the night in Genoa as he did when going to the US.
May 26 Friday – Sam’s notebook from Genoa to Florence:
Left for Florence 12.32 p.m. Friday, first class (about 30 fr.) in a car that goes through ohne Umsteigen [NB 33 TS 13].
Sam did not reach Florence until May 27; his first extant letter from Florence was written on May 29.
May 27 Saturday – Sam reached the Villa Viviani outside of Florence on the road to Settignano [June 9 to Twichell].
May 29 Monday – At the Villa Viviani in Florence, Sam wrote to William Walter Phelps, congratulating him and his daughter, Marian Phelps (four years older than Susy Clemens), on her recent wedding to Dr. Franz von Rottenberg. Marian was a close friend of Clara Clemens in Berlin.
May 30 Tuesday – In Florence, Sam began a letter to Frederick J. Hall that he finished on June 2.
Dear Mr. Hall, — You were to cable me if you sold any machine royalties — so I judge you have not succeeded.
This has depressed me. I have been looking over the past year’s letters and statements and am depressed still more [MTP]. Note: this salutation and beginning left out of MTLTP, 343.
May 31 Wednesday – Rodney writes of the end of May and the family’s plans:
June – Bookman magazine (London) IV p.91 briefly reviewed The £1,000,000 Bank-Note and Other Stories:
There is one good thing in this volume [“The Enemy Conquered; Or, Love Triumphant”], and that apparently is not Mark Twain’s. What of the remainder is passable is Mark Twain’s commentary on the good thing. The rest of the book is disappointing [Tenney 21].
June 1 Thursday – In Florence, Sam wrote a short request to Charles Webster & Co., asking them to send a copy of P&P to Marian Phelps, now Madame von Rottenberg, in care of the American Legation, 16 Kronenstrasse, Berlin, Germany. Sam added it was his wedding present to her [MTP].
June 2 Friday – Sam finished his May 30 to Frederick J. Hall. His $500 monthly draft had not arrived, and it could not now reach them before they left for Germany, but he would draw on Livy’s letter of credit if needed. He acknowledged receipt of $950.
We are skimming along like paupers & a day can embarrass us. …
June 3 Saturday – Niagara Book, containing “Extracts from Adam’s Diary” was published by Underhill and Nichols. The book did not sell well, and Sam only received half of the thousand dollars agreed upon, due to Nichols pushing Underhill out of the company (See Oct. 20 to Livy). Sam eventually forgave Underhill the other half, since the book lost some six thousand dollars [BAMT 5]. Note: Underhill would publish some of Sam’s later works.
June 4 Sunday – In Florence, Livy was ailing again. Sam wrote to Dr. William Wilberforce Baldwin, asking him to “come out here tomorrow & let’s talk about Professor Oertel & Mrs. Clemens’ case” [MTP]. Note: The family put Munich and Berlin on their list of stops for medical consultations for Livy. Dr. Baldwin may have recommended doctors there.
June 5 Monday – Dr. William Baldwin was to come and examine Livy [June 4 to Baldwin].
June 8 Thursday – Clara Clemens’ nineteenth birthday.
At the Villa Viviani, Florence, Sam wrote to Joe Twichell. He did not mention Clara’s birthday.
The sea voyage set me up & I reached here May 27 in tolerable condition — nothing left but weakness, cough all gone. I was ill in bed eleven days in Chicago, a week in Elmira & 3 months in New York (seemingly) & accomplished nothing that I went home to do.
June 9 Friday – Frederick J. Hall wrote to Sam indicating that General Stewart L. Woodford (1835-1913), politician and former congressman, was interested in buying $40,000 worth of Sam’s Paige typesetter royalties [MTLTP 347n1]. Note: See June 16, for Woodford’s change of heart. In 1897 Woodford would be appointed minister to Spain less than a year before the Spanish-American war.
June 10 Saturday – At the Villa Viviani, Florence, Sam wrote a short note to Mr. White, a local English or American who had evidently invited Sam and Susy to an engagement for Sunday evening, June 11. Susy had a prior appointment, but Sam wrote he could “find my way alone — & shall” [MTP].