January 20 Wednesday – Sam was in bed with pneumonia. During this week he wrote and revised his sixth and last letter for McClure’s Syndicate, “The German Chicago.” Paine calls this “a finely descriptive article on Berlin, and German customs and institutions generally” [MTB 936]. An excerpt:
January 21 Thursday – Livy wrote for Sam to Frederick J. Hall:
Your letter of Jan. 7th has just reached us [not extant]…Like all your letters it was a great comfort to me….I am anxious that Mr. C. should take that sixteen thousand that he will have from his story and letters and invest it elsewhere because it surely is very bad to have all ones eggs in one basket….Therefore he intends to invest $16,000 through Mr. Halsey.
January 23 Saturday – Livy wrote for Sam to Frederick J. Hall (not extant) [Jan. 25 to Hall].
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 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 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 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 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”].
February – The American Claimant was published serially in The Idler Magazine (London) from Feb.1892 through Jan. 1893.
London’s Idler Magazine ran “A Conglomerate Interview with Mark Twain,” by Luke Sharp [The Twainian, Nov. 1940 p.4]. From Tenney:
February 2 Tuesday – At the Hotel Royal in Berlin and still down in bed, Sam wrote to Frederick J. Hall, again about The American Claimant, which was to be issued as a one-dollar book as soon as the serialized version was completed. He directed Hall to get someone “competent & conscientious” to prepare the copy and read proofs, confessing he wouldn’t be able to do that “for some time to come.” He also directed Hall to coordinate the effort with Chatto for English publication.
February 5 Friday – At the Hotel Royal in Berlin and still down in bed, Sam wrote to Frederick J. Hall. The doctor had ordered Sam to leave for the south of France as soon as he was able. Sam put his new address at the top of the letter, his Paris banker. He’d received a sample Mark Twain’s Memory Builder from Hall, and pointed out the flaws in the boards.
It will not be well to send any of these boards out — they will come back to you, sure.
February 6 Saturday – Andrew F. Brady wrote from Blackwater, Mo. that he was reading AC running in the St. Louis Republican. The character of Nat Brady led Andrew to surmise that Sam had Andrew’s father in mind, James N. Brady, who died in July of 1889. “Can it be?” [MTP].
February 7 Sunday – The N.Y. Sun, The Boston Daily Globe and other McClure Syndicate newspapers ran Sam’s Europe letter, “Marienbad — A Health Factory” (The Globe titled it “MARK TWAIN’S GOUT”. The Illustrated London News reprinted segments with the title “An Austrian Health-Factory” on Feb. 20, Mar. 5, and Mar. 12, 1892 [Willson list, Univ. of Texas at Austin].
February 8 Monday – Harry Edwards Fund sent Sam a printed circular soliciting funds to raise $15,000 for the purchase of Harry’s “magnificent Entomological Collection.” Dr. William C. Prime was quoted. [MTP]. Note: a unique way of “bugging” Mark Twain.
February 9 Tuesday – C.E. Raymond for J. Walter Thompson Magazine and Newspaper Advertising wrote to Sam about his “Telegraphy” article, noting that the July 1891 Harper’s — a serial story by W.D. Howells (“An Imperative Duty”) — and the Oct. 1891 Century article — Matt Crim’s, “Was it an Exceptional Case” — were very similar in plot. Had Sam noticed? [MTP].
February 10 Wednesday – Mrs. M.J. Kimball wrote from Sunbury, Ohio to Sam after reading his “Telegraphy” article with her own examples and a request to help her get her stories published [MTP].
February 11 Thursday – Sam’s notebook in Berlin:
Feb. 11. Court ball night (& on other such functions at the palace) the footmen up by the drivers wear a placard on their hats — showing that carriage contains invitees — otherwise it couldn’t turn in to its place with the rest but would be switched off [NB 31 TS 25].
February 12 Friday – At the Hotel Royal in Berlin and still down in bed, Sam wrote to Augustin Daly, who had written (not extant) seeking to dramatize The American Claimant. Sam wrote he would have cabled his agreement but was unable to. He related the story of the play by that name which A.P. Burbank tried to produce, attempts which Sam said cost him money.
February 14 Sunday – Sam’s notebook: “Professor Helmholtz called” [NB 31 TS 26].
Paine quotes Sam’s record of this day that Professor Rudolf Virchow visited, “but unfortunately leaves no further memorandum of that visit.” Did Paine confuse Helmholtz with Virchow? Or, did both men stop by? Paine also notes that Sam was “quite recovered” by this time, and quotes his final entry:
February 16 Tuesday – Dr. Richard Hodgson (1855-1905) of the American Society for Psychical Research wrote to Sam asking for corroborative testimonies and supporting documentation for Sam’s Dec. 1891 article, “Mental Telegraphy” in Harper’s [“An Incident by ‘Mark Twain’ Verified,” by Walter F. Prince, Journal of the Am. Soc. For Psychical Research, Vol. XV Jan. 1921]. Printed circulars were enclosed. Note: William Wright (Dan De Quille) and Charles T.
February 17 Wednesday – Clara H. Backus wrote from Wallaston, Mass. It is a rambling, non-sensical letter; Sam wrote on the envelope, “Crazy” [MTP].
February 18 Thursday – Helen M. Reynolds wrote from Wilkesbarre, Penn. to Sam after reading his “Telegraphy” article. Helen pointed out “something similar in Dr. Holmes’ book, “Over the Teacups,” and asked if Sam had seen it [MTP]. Note: it seems everyone and his brother wanted to share similar “mental” oddities with Sam, or had an opinion on the matter. No other Twain essay seems to have stimulated this amount of response.
February 19 Friday – In Berlin for the first time in 37 days Sam went out of the Hotel Royal for a half hour [Feb. 20 to Whitmore].
February 20 Saturday – In Berlin at General Maximillian von Versen’s, Sam had dinner with Emperor William II. A few days before, Sam entered in his notebook:
In that day the Imperial lion & the democratic lamb shall sit down together & a little General shall feed them [NB 31 TS 27].
February 22 Monday – At the Hotel Royal in Berlin, Sam wrote to E.A. Reynolds Ball, an English travel writer. Sam belatedly thanked Ball for sending a book (probably Mediterranean Winter Resorts 1888):