Clemens Family Relocates to Europe: Day By Day

March 22 Thursday – At the Hotel Brighton in Paris Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers.

I’ve had a tough time persuading Mrs. Clemens to stay here and allow me to go back. She consents to let me go; but it is on condition that I remain in America only 3 weeks and take ship for France again May 7. She wants to go home with me, but the physician will not hear of it — says she would lose all she has gained — and she is gaining pretty satisfactorily. Susy is a deal better, and has acquired a valuable appetite.

March 24 Saturday – Sam received the document (which transferred Sam’s Paige royalties to Livy) from Bainbridge Colby, H.H. Rogers’ attorney, with the law firm of Stern & Rushmore, but too late to go to the consulate to sign it and get it notarized [Mar. 26 to Rogers].

March 26 Monday – At the Hotel Brighton in Paris Sam wrote to Mary Hallock Foote, giving her an unqualified recommendation as a drawing teacher, even though he could not testify to her ability in that matter, he could testify that she “speak the truth, every time,” so that, “whatever you SAY you are competent to do,” he was sure she could do [MTP: Hartford Courant Aug. 14, 1968].

Sam also wrote to H.H. Rogers:

March 27 Tuesday – The Brooklyn Eagle carried an article, p.8 with a London byline, that included a paragraph on Mark Twain in Paris:

The correspondent at Paris of the Daily Notes notes the scarcity of American visitors in that city during Eastertide. The correspondent adds that Mr. Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) is daily seen on the Avenue des Champs-Elysses. Mr. Clemens says that he has several books on hand. Mr. and Mrs. Poultney Bigelow are also in Paris en route from Algeria to London.

March 29 Thursday – Bainbridge Colby for Stern & Rushmore Attys. wrote acknowledging receipt of Sam’s Mar. 19 letter, and that he’d been expecting the original assignment document “of your various property interests to your wife,” and if it did not come soon, he would cable a reminder [MTP].

March 30 Friday – At the Brighton Hotel in Paris France Sam wrote to Henry H. Rogers. A cablegram had not yet come about the arrival of Rogers’ daughters, Mrs. Cara Rogers Duff and May Rogers. Jean Clemens had suffered a scalding accident on her leg. Sam had his ticket to sail on Apr. 7, again on the SS New York. Sam also wrote he had seen George Franklin Southard and James G.

March 31 Saturday – In Paris Sam wrote a brief note to Frederick J. Hall, asking him to gather an unbound P&P for Lord Dufferin, the British Ambassador. Dufferin wished to bind the book himself. Hall was to remind Sam when he came, so he could write on the fly-leap and tell him how to direct the package [MTP]. Note: Lord Dufferin was Frederick Temple Blackwood (1826-1902), diplomat and author.

April – Sam’s article, “Private History of the ‘Jumping Frog’ Story” ran in the North American Review. In the article Sam addressed the issues of plagiarism and “a lady from Finland” (Baroness Alexandra Gripenberg) [Moyne 377n21]. See entry Dec. 27, 1888. Sam also criticized Madame Blanc’s translation of the tale into French, ( she would take offense). See Apr. 30 to King.

April 1 Sunday – The McClure Syndicate ran an “interview” with Sam made on Mar. 6, the night before he sailed on Mar. 7. Scharnhorst, Interviews 138-43 contains the complete text, which was called “Mark Twain Gone Abroad” in the St. Louis Republic, p.28; “Mark Twain and the Reporter,” Buffalo Express, p.9.; “Mark Twain Interviewed” in the Boston Daily Globe; and most accurately, “HE IS A PERFECT LIAR” in the Chicago Daily Tribune, p.38.

April 5 Thursday – Sam gave a reading at the British Embassy in Paris in behalf of a school for destitute English and American children, with tickets at $4, an amount that Sam “trembled” from [Mar. 30 to Rogers; Apr. 12 to Orion; NY Times article below]. Note: this has sometimes been reported in error as Apr. 7, perhaps due to a mis-dating in an Apr. 22 article. The New York Times reported on this reading:

April 6 Friday – Sam left Paris for Southampton via London [Mar. 30 to Rogers]. In his Mar. 26 to H.H. Rogers, Sam wrote his plans were to dine with Henry M. Stanley and Sir Francis de Winton, Governor of the Duke of York’s household, on the night before he sailed, Apr. 6. In this dinner, Sam wanted to “put out feelers” in a general way about selling his Paige Compositor stock.

April 7 Saturday – Sam was on the S.S. New York as it sailed from Southampton, England [MTHHR 23].

April 8 Sunday – Sam was en route to New York on the S.S. New York.

April 9 Monday – Sam was en route to New York on the S.S. New York. In the Brooklyn Eagle, p.9, “The Anti-Spoils League,” Sam’s name was listed along with many others, reading like a Who’s Who in New York.

April 10 Tuesday – Sam was en route to New York on the S.S. New York.

Meanwhile, Livy wrote to Sam from Paris:

My own darling: Three days since you sailed away from us. I have been so desperately sorry that I did not get a dispatch or something to you, but I love you just as tenderly as if I had. …

April 11 Wednesday – Sam was en route to New York on the S.S. New York.

April 12 Thursday – En route to New York on the S.S. New York, Sam wrote to Orion and Mollie Clemens, reporting on each family member in Paris. He asked them to forward the letter to Pamela Moffett as he was “a poor hand to write letters.”

April 13 Friday – En route to New York on the S.S. New York at 7:30 p.m., Sam wrote to Livy:

We expect to be in New York about 10 tomorrow morning, Livy darling. I am waiting to be called to read — & the sea is increasing all the time. I am afraid I shall be alone — as was the case going over, except that Stead made some remarks. The sea was so rough that the music had to be given up. I think this sea is as rough as that one was.

April 14 Saturday – The N.Y. Times noted that the steamship New York’s arrival was a “fast winter run of 6 days, 21 hours, and 51 minutes.” Sam’s arrival was noted [Apr. 15, p.9 “Arrivals from Europe”].

At 5 p.m. in New York at the Players Club, Sam wrote to Livy that he’d arrived at 10 a.m. and found his old room ready for him at 10:30 a.m.

April 15 Sunday – In New York at the Players Club Sam wrote to Livy at the Hotel Brighton in Paris.

April 16 Monday – In New York Sam wrote with optimism to Livy:

April 17 Tuesday – The New York Times, p.6 ran an article from the Minneapolis Times:

The Frog Two Thousand Years Old.

A college professor recently asked Mark Twain, “How old do you suppose your jumping frog story is?”

“I know exactly,” replied Mark. “It is fifty-five years old.”

“You are mistaken,” remarked the professor. “It is more than 2,000 years old. It is a Greek story.”

April 18 Wednesday – Two copies of Tom Sawyer Abroad by Huck Finn were deposited with the U.S. Copyright Office on this day, the same day that Charles L. Webster and Co. declared bankruptcy [Hirst, “A Note on the Text” Afterword materials p.24, Oxford ed. 1996].

Henry E. Barrett, clerk for Tioga County, N.Y. Surrogate’s Court wrote to Sam, thanking him for the “many pleasant hours” the books of Mark Twain had given him from his youth on [MTP].

April 19 Thursday – From the New York Times, p.9

MARK TWAIN’S COMPANY IN TROUBLE.

— — —

Publishing Firm of Charles L. Webster & Co. Financially Embarrassed.

April 20 Friday – In New York Sam wrote to Livy about his day-trip to Hartford, and about the assignment and Fred Hall: