Vol 3 Section 0294

George W. Cable. Sam ranked favorably to a similar poll by The Critic some fifteen years before, when he came in 14th in the “Forty Immortals” [MTHL 2: 693n7].

April 13 Thursday– At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam finished his Apr. 2, 5, 6, and 12 letter to William Dean Howells.

“13th I have been to the Knustausstelling [Art Exhibit] with Mrs. Clemens. The office of art seems to be, to grovel in the dirt before Emperors & this & that & the other damned breed of priests./ Yrs Ever / Mark”

[MTP].

April 14 Friday

April 15 Saturday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to Frank Bliss, concerning the

Apr. 3 letter of Charles R. Hall (enclosed):

If Mr. Adolphe M. Glaser is a fraud, (I have never heard of him before,) don’t you think you’d better send a detective in plain clothes, with a warrant & authority to search his quarters? Maybe you can capture a list of his subscribers & be able to send him to Sing-sing & make a useful example of him. Mr. President Hall will be a good witness [MTP]. Note: The New England Co. (N.Y.) had printed a portfolio prospectus for “The Complete Works of Mark Twain”—a quite unauthorized “Uniform Edition.” Sam suggested the trap to Bliss after being warned by Charles Hall. See Hall’s Apr. 3. Kevin Mac Donnell offered a portfolio prospectus by the pirates, viewed Sept. 21, 2010, and added that The New England Co. also printed a bio sketch of Mark Twain by A.E. Keller to promote their planned edition.

April 16 Sunday

April 17 Monday

April 18 Tuesday – At the Hotel Krantz in Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to Annette Hullah, and enclosed an inscribed photograph by Alfred Ellis: “To Annette Hullah with my kindest regards.” The inscription is on a tiny margin at the bottom of the photo, and does not include his signature.

I know you will forgive me for not signing. I was a peace man, but I have lost interest, since the Finnish episode. I was looking forward to the Abrüstüngs Congress as a kind of holy thing, but it has become a comedy now. This outcome indicates that the human race is still on deck & hasn’t lost its character. It is never serious about anything. I mean, anything that is worth being serious about [MTP]. Note: Annette Hullah was a student of Theodor Leschetizky’s. The photograph was document 31101 in Gallery of History Auction, viewed online Sept. 13, 2009.

Sam also wrote to H.H. Rogers.

All right, I am glad you are keeping that capital at work & making it earn its living; there isn’t any other member of this family that is so diligent & so capable. As for myself, I have talent but not efficiency. I wish Rice would re-dramatise “Is He Dead.” It would keep him out of mischief, & shorten his gambling-hours, & postpone the gallows; & I know, quite well, that the play will never play until it is reconstructed. Meanwhile I’ve a notion that Puddnhead will resume dividends one of these days; a letter received yesterday from the Mississippi valley speaks warmly of it & of its big houses.

The landlord of the inn in Princeton offers us very good terms indeed; but naturally we can’t decide anything until we are on the ground & can look around.

….

The enclosed has wandered to me from America. I suppose you knew the Whitfields. It is a pleasant story. I suppose I have met the old captain myself if he is the one who was a teetotaler 3 years & became

SLC used mourning border for most letters from Susy’s death on, then from Livy’s death on.