Clemens Family Relocates to Europe: Day By Day

September 12 Monday – The Clemens family was in Frankfurt, Germany. Several doctors attended to Livy. Sam’s Sept. 18 to Crane related doctor visits:

September 12 Tuesday – In New York Sam wrote Livy on Sept. 13 about seeing Frank Fuller:

September 12 Wednesday – In Etretat, France Sam finished his Sept. 11 to J. Henry Harper. He wrote but a few lines about inserts to the MS and of missing later segments that he suggested the French custom house might have taken:

…still, they wouldn’t want literature that isn’t indecent, would they? [MTP].

Bainbridge Colby, the assignee of Webster & Co., cabled Sam:

September 13 Sunday – In Interlaken, Switzerland Sam wrote to Francis Dalzell Finlay, his longtime friend in Belfast, Ireland.

We leave tomorrow for Berne & later for Geneva. For a day or two. Beyond that the WILL OF GOD has not been signified to his servants. Therefore we must wait for a sign for we are personally conducted. All the family are with me.

September 13 Tuesday – The Clemens family was in Frankfurt, Germany, where Sam wrote in his notebook:

Frankfurt a/m. Sept. 13/92. Shall mail to-morrow 27 type-written pages of “Tom Sawyer Abroad” — 16,000 words. (113 pages; MS; The whole 280 MS pages make about 40,000 words.) [NB 32 TS 23].

September 13 Wednesday – Sam wrote two letters to Livy, in care of Drexel Harjes & Co. Bankers, Paris., one at 10 a.m. in Hartford, and another upon returning to New York. He described his contact with Frank Fuller, taking in a play with Dr. Clarence C. Rice, his Hartford visit, and prospects:

September 14 Monday – The Clemens party left Interlaken and traveled back to Geneva, reaching there in the evening [Sept. 15 to Hall].

Joe Cone of East Cambrige, Mass. wrote a bad poem and thought it worth Sam’s autograph [MTP].

September 14 Wednesday – The Clemens family was in Frankfurt, Germany.

September 14 Thursday – In New York, a bad cold and cough again plagued Sam, who “fell asleep as soon as” he “touched the bed” [Sept. 15 to Clara]. Sam discussed publishing an interview with William Webster Ellsworth, secretary of Century Co., and would write him the next day [Sept. 15 to Ellsworth].

In his Sept. 17 letter to Livy, he related how hectic the search for funds had been this day:

September 14 Friday – In Etretat, France Sam wrote to his old friend William Dean Howells upon learning of the Aug. 28 death of Howells’ father, William Cooper Howells (1807-1894).

I have heard of your bereavement, & am aware through talks with John [Mead Howells] how heavy a stroke it was for you. It was a happy thing you went home; you would have reproached yourself else. Sympathy is for the living; & sincerely you have mine. Envy is for the dead [MTP].

September 15 Tuesday – In Geneva, Switzerland Sam wrote to Frederick J. Hall, complaining, “For the first time our mails have failed & gone utterly to the devil.” Upon arrival the night before Sam did find Hall’s letter of two weeks prior, however (not extant). Sam told of spending time with Dr. Charles Waldstein while in Marienbad (see Aug. 24 entry), and thought McClure might want Waldstein to write for the syndicate — would Hall find out and let Sam know?

September 15 Thursday – The Clemens family left Frankfurt, headed for Lucerne, Switzerland, a trip of some 207 miles [NB 32 TS 24; Sept. 17 to Whitmore]. Sam related that Livy’s condition forced them to stop for the night in Basel:

September 15 Friday – Sam was up at 7 a.m. and back at the frantic search for a loan with which to save from defaulting on debts due Monday, Sept. 18. From Sam’s Sept. 17 letter to Livy:

September 16 Wednesday † – Sam decided to take a solo excursion. He hired his old courier Joseph Verey (Very) and sent him ahead to Lake Bourget to engaged a boat and pilot for a ten day trip down the river Rhone. Paine writes,

“For five dollars Joseph bought a safe, flat-bottom craft; also he engaged the owner as pilot. A few days later — September 19 — Clemens followed” [MTB 924].

September 16 Friday – Sam’s notebook shows the record of travel:

Left Frankfurt Sep. 15. / Stayed over-night at Basel. / Left Basel at 2.10 p.m. Sept. 16, reached Lurcerne 5.15 [NB 32 TS 24].

Sam told of the rest of the trip to Lucerne, Switzerland, where they stayed at the Hotel Des Balances [Sept. 17 to Whitmore]:

September 16 Saturday – Sam traveled to Madison, New Jersey and Frank Fuller’s farm, “Chemmiwink,” arriving at 1 p.m. Exhausted from this ordeal to find financial support for Webster & Co., worn down with another cold and bad cough, but knowing that Rogers would provide Fred Hall with the needed $8,000, Sam “went immediately to bed thoroughly tuckered out & drowsy” [Sept 17 to Clara].

September 16 Sunday – In Etretat, France Sam wrote a note to Bainbridge Colby authorizing H.H. Rogers to endorse checks for the first $500 from American Publishing Co. to Colby’s law firm of Stern & Rushmore [MTP].

Sam then wrote H.H. Rogers referring to the note sent Colby and if it wouldn’t do he would have Livy repeat the note. Sam also wrote of his writing woes:

September 17 Thursday – Sam’s notebook: “Arrived at Ouchy Thursday, Sept. 17—noon” [NB 31 TS 5]. The Clemens party took rooms at the Grand Hotel Beau Rivage, Ouchy, Lausanne on Lake Leman [MTB 924].

September 17 Saturday – At the Hotel Des Balances Au Lac in Lucerne, Sam wrote to Franklin G. Whitmore. Relating an old claim against Pratt & Whitney over a disputed $1,740 bill, Sam felt the time was right to “put in that claim” now that the Chicago enterprise under Paige had new investors. Sam added a paragraph on family plans:

September 17 Sunday – At Frank Fuller’s farm In Madison, N.J. Sam wrote to daughter Clara. He wrote that he’d “woke up at 7 this morning entirely rested, refreshed & brisk.”

September 18 Friday – The Clemens family rested at Ouchy, Lausanne on Lake Leman. Sam’s notebook reveals he bought “27 cigars for a cent. It is the quality which has rotted your heart, not the number—which is not excess” [NB 31 TS 6].

September 18 Sunday – At the Hotel Des Balances in Lucerne, Switzerland Sam wrote to Susan L. Crane. Sam thanked her for a pen she sent, and teased her for going “off without filling my traveling inkstand,” which she’d given him. He told of progress made on Tom Sawyer Abroad and his “Twins” book (which became PW and also the Twins story). He also wrote of their travel woes with Livy’s condition:

September 18 Monday – Russell Hinman sent a copy of his book, Eclectic Physical Geography (1888) to Sam for daughter Jean Clemens, with this note:

My dear Sir: —

September 18 Tuesday – The formal filings were made of assets and liabilities of the Charles L. Webster & Co. See Sept. 19 Times article.

September – Sam’s notebook memo, “Henry James’s Summer trip through Provence,” referred to Henry James’ A Little Tour in France (1885) [NB 31, TS 5; also Gribben 350]. Another memo for this month: “Sepet. Jeanne d’Arc gr. in — 8° M. 20 fr” referred to Marius Sepet’s Jeanne d’Arc (1887) [Gribben 621; NB 31, TS 6].

A copy of Walter Scott’s Anne of Geierstein (1871 ed.) inscribed: Jean Clemens/Ouchy/Sept. 1891 [Gribben 614].