England 1896-97 DBD

Twain spent his time in England working on his book, Following the Equator.  Isaac Gewirtz, Mark Twain A Skeptic's Progress  pg 87-9, writes of this:

August 11 Tuesday – At Highfield House, Portsmouth Road, Guildford, England, Sam wrote to Andrew Chatto:

We’ve got ourselves located here an hour from London, for a month: & in the meantime we are spying around for a house for the winter. Mrs. Clemens is out on that quest to-day, in the neighborhood of London.

August 12 Wednesday – In Guildford, England Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers.

August 14 Friday – In the morning word reached the Clemenses in Guildford that Susy Clemens was quite ill. Sam cablegrammed Charles Langdon throughout the day for clarification but none came.

August 15 Saturday – Upon arriving at Southampton, the Clemenses found another cable waiting from the family gathered in New York. Susy’s recovery (from an unspecified disease) would be “long but certain.” This convinced Sam to stay in England. Livy and Clara boarded the S.S. Paris bound for New York. On the same day, Dr. Porter in Hartford diagnosed Susy with spinal meningitis, an often lethal malady before the days of antibiotics.

August 16 Sunday – Neider writes of Susy’s torment:

Next morning, a Sunday, she walked about a bit in pain and delirium, then felt very weak and returned to bed, but before doing so, rummaging in a closet, she came across a gown she had once seen her mother wear. She thought the gown was her dead mother, and, kissing it, began to cry [Papa 43].

August 17 Monday – At noon in Guildford, Sam finished his Aug. 16 letter to Livy.

Monday noon. Chatto is evidently off on his vacation. I do not hear from him.

I enclose a letter received this morning, about the photos. It has no signature, but I suppose it is from Miss Blood — so I have answered it.

August 18 Tuesday – At 7:07 p.m. in Hartford, Olivia Susan (Susy) Clemens, age 24, died of spinal meningitis in the Farmington Ave. house [MTA 37; Sept. 6 to Hutton]. Katy Leary, longtime servant and helper to the family, was with her, as was Charles Langdon and Sue Crane. Joe Twichell had come from the Adirondacks to comfort Susy, but it’s not clear if he was with her at the end (see Sept.

August 19 Wednesday – In Guildford, England, Sam wrote two notes to Andrew Chatto, the first before receiving news of Susy’s death, the second afterward. First,

August 21 Friday – In Guildford, England Sam wrote again to Livy.

August 22 Saturday – The S.S. Paris arrived in New York. Clara Clemens recalled the events:

August 23 Sunday – Thomas Kinnicut Beecher, minister of the Park Church in Elmira, conducted the funeral of Olivia Susan (Susy) Clemens in the Langdon home. Susy was laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira. Livy, Jean, and Clara Clemens were all at the graveside, along with Sue Crane and members of the Langdon clan.

August 24 Monday – Sam and Robert S. Smythe went house-hunting [Aug. 25 to Livy].

Poultney Bigelow sent a letter of condolence about Susy’s death [MTP].

August 25 Tuesday – In Guildford, England Sam wrote to Livy:

Livy darling, your cablegram came yesterday [not extant] asking after my health. I was unspeakably glad to get it, for it swept away a fast-gnawing burden of apprehension concerning your own state; I judged that its inner meaning was a message to me to say “Do not be uneasy about me.”

August 26 Wednesday – In Guildford, England Sam began a letter to Livy that he finished Aug. 28.

August 28 Friday – In Guildford, England Sam finished his Aug. 26 letter to Livy:

Noon, Friday. There is yet time to add a line before posting this for tomorrow’s steamer.

August 29 Saturday – In Guildford, England Sam began a letter to Livy that he finished Aug. 30.

I wonder if she left any little message for me, any little mention, showing that she thought of me. I was not deserving of it, I had not earned it, but if there was any such word left behind for me, I hope it was saved up in its exact terms & that I shall get it.

August 30 Sunday – In Guildford, England Sam finished his Aug. 29 letter to Livy.

Sunday, mid-afternoon, 30th. Not a line yet, not a single line. It seems as if I cannot bear it.

September – The second and last installment of the 23,400 word Tom Sawyer, Detective ran the Sept. issue of Harper’s Magazine. 21 illustrations were included by A.B. Frost. It would be included by Harper’s in book form, together with the 34,000 word Tom Sawyer Abroad in November, 1896. The latter had first appeared in book form in 1894 by Webster & Co., after being serialized in St. Nicholas Magazine.

September 1 Tuesday – Chatto & Windus sent a form letter of their move to St. Martin’s Lane [MTP].

September 2 Wednesday – Livy, Clara Clemens, and Katy Leary sailed for Southampton, England on the liner St. Louis [N.Y. Times Aug. 11, 1896 p.11, “Marine Intelligence”; Sept. 9 to Rogers; MFMT 177].

September 6 Sunday – In Guildford, England Sam responded to Laurence Hutton’s letter of condolence (not extant).

September 7 Monday – In Guildford, England Sam wrote to J. Henry Harper on the back of his (a copy?) Aug. 7 to Harper, about the “Californian’s Tale” — whether or not it was considered published.

September 9 Wednesday – Livy, daughter Clara, and Katy Leary arrived in Southampton. It is assumed they went directly to Guildford to be reunited with Sam [Sept. 10 to Rogers].

September 10 Thursday – In Guildford, England Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers.