November 11 Sunday – Down with the “grippe” at the Brighton Hotel in Paris, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers, wondering if he was in Chicago checking on the typesetter at the Herald. Clemens expected to move to the rental house the next day (delayed until Nov. 16).
I haven’t smoked for three days; that is because of the bronchial cough; but I am to re-begin to-morrow morning, and I will see what can be accomplished between that and night.
November 12 Monday – At the Brighton Hotel in Paris, Sam expected to move to the rental house at noon this day, but was laid low by another ailment:
November 13 Tuesday – At the Brighton Hotel in Paris, the doctor came to examine Sam the day after his gout attack, which would have been this day:
November 14 Wednesday – At the Brighton Hotel in Paris, Sam’s cough improved [Nov. 15 to Rogers].
November 15 Thursday – In the morning at the Brighton Hotel in Paris, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers of being laid up since Nov. 12 with the gout and of the doctor’s treatments on Nov. 13. He expected to go to the new house this day.
November 16 Friday – At the Brighton Hotel in Paris, Sam wrote three paragraphs to Franklin G. Whitmore, the first about attending to the rugs in the Hartford house; the second to advise when he needed money for the household expenses there to apply to Rogers’ legal firm of Stern & Rushmore because the money from the American Publishing Co. (PW ) went to them; the third was a brief progress report on the rental house he would go to in one hour.
November 17 Saturday – At 169 rue de l’Université in Paris, Sam stayed in bed to recover from his bronchitis and gout.
November 2 Friday – From the Brighton Hotel in Paris, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers. He described the move from Rouen (see Oct. 31) and gave the rest of the letter to a discussion of the typesetter; he’d received the Chicago report on the machine’s progress upon arriving in Paris. The report evidently showed some shortcomings, for Sam wrote:
November 20 Tuesday – In the evening, at 169 rue de l’Université in Paris, Sam suffered another attack of gout in his other ankle [Nov. 21 to Rogers].
November 21 Wednesday – At 169 rue de l’Université in Paris, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers, dictating the letter to daughter Clara, who added a “d” to Rogers’ name. Sam related the hard attack of the gout he’d had for a couple of weeks, which kept them at the hotel longer than they’d planned. He’d stayed in bed at the new house since. It seems that all of the Clemens girls inherited their mother’s spelling ability, something Sam teased Livy about during their courting days.
November 27 Tuesday – Livy’s 49th birthday.
November 28 Wednesday – At 169 rue de l’Université in Paris, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers. He was out of bed finally, not sure how long he’d been there:
…the fog is thick, the daylight is black, & I feel defeated & in a state of surrender to fate.
November 29 Thursday – Thanksgiving – In Paris Sam wrote to Henry C. Robinson, having received the wedding cards from his daughter’s wedding. Sam was sorry they wouldn’t be there and sent his congratulations. He related being “knocked down with gout in both ankles,” and though he was “up & about the house, now,” he was “not to go out for a week or two yet.”
Mrs. Clemens’s health is remarkably good & everybody remarks upon how well she looks. Susy is well again, & fatting up.
November 30 Friday – Sam’s 59th Birthday.
Two copies of PW were deposited with the US Copyright Office [Hirst, “A Note on the Text” Afterword materials p.28, 1996 Oxford ed.]
November 6 Tuesday – From the Brighton Hotel in Paris, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers about their rental house at 169 Rue de l’Unversité:
November 7 Wednesday – In the morning, from the Brighton Hotel in Paris, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers, mostly about the Paige typesetter and its competitor the Mergenthaler Linotype machine. Reports up to now from Chicago had been encouraging, but the machine would soon start to break repeatedly. Sam related how long the Mergenthaler had been around, breaking down and continuing on:
November 9 Friday – Sam was down with the “grippe” at the Brighton Hotel in Paris, “not the slightest use to Mrs. Clemens,” who was “raiding around everywhere for servants…” [Nov. 11 to Rogers].
October 1 Monday – The Clemens family left Etretat bound for Paris, but after four hours travel, they stopped at the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, due to Susy’s fever and congestion of the right lung [Oct. 5 to Rogers].
October 10 Wednesday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam wrote to Charles H. Webb about the failure of Webster & Co. The letter is obviously a response to an inquiry (not extant) by Webb. Sam included an etched portrait of himself made by Wall (not further identified) and signed by the artist.
October 11 Thursday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam wrote to Morse, the US Consul-General:
I thank you very much indeed for the papers, until I can pay you the principal.
Sam reported that Susy’s fever was gone and her congested lung healing; that they should be able to travel in a few days to Paris [MTP].
October 13 Saturday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam wrote to Frank Bliss after receiving his telegram. Bliss was getting ready to publish PW by subscription. Sam didn’t want a dedication in the book, claiming he’d “discarded the custom,” but pointed out the introduction, which was the opening paragraphs of the “Twins.” He answered questions about PW’s calendar and then advised that the family was “stalled” in Rouen for another two or three weeks [MTP].
October 15 Monday – The Dreyfus Affair began when Alfred Dreyfus was arrested for spying;. See Dec. 22 entry. Dolmetsch writes, “References to the Dreyfus affair permeate almost everything Mark Twain wrote in Vienna” (1897-1898) [173].
October 16 Tuesday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam telegraphed Alice H. Day, long time friend of Livy’s: “Wish you all bon voyage / Clemens” [MTP].
October – Borderland magazine (London) I, p.558-60, ran an unsigned article, “Test Readings of Mark Twain’s Hands,” about the blind readings of Sam’s right hand by “Miss Ross,” “J.E.,” “Lucis,” and “E.L.C.” The article announced hope that in their next edition they might publish Sam’s “opinion upon the accuracy or otherwise with which strangers have hit off his distinguishing characteristics” [Tenney 22]. Tenney notes that Sam’s comments appeared in the Jan. 1895 issue, along with clear photographs of the front and back of his right hand.
October 19 Friday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers about Watson Gill’s proposition to publish all of Webster & Co.’s old books. Gill was a bookstore owner who previously purchased remainders of LOM. (See Apr. 23, 1887; Jan. 16, 1889; Nov. 30, 1889 for previous dealings with Gill.) Gill’s offer was half-profits or a royalty.