Vol 3 Section 0307
May 31 Wednesday – The Clemens family left Cologne, Germany at 6 a.m. on their way to England. Livy didn’t want to split the last stage in two, so they made a single trip of it, from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m
[June 1 to Twichell].
In Calais, France Sam cabled Chatto & Windus: “SHALL ARRIVE BY CALAIS DOVER TODAY SEVEN THIRTY = CLEMENS” [MTP].
At 7:30 p.m the Clemens family arrived in London and checked into the Prince of Wales Hotel in Kensington, (West London), ahead of their baggage, which had not arrived. The manageress of the Hotel was E. Cook [June 1 to Bigelow; July 5 letterhead]. See also June 1 to Twichell. Mr. and Mrs. Percy Spalding, and Andrew Chatto provided flowers at the hotel [Livy to Spalding; Chatto June 1].
B.J. Copeland Sandry wrote from the Grand Hotel in Vienna to Sam, what is essentially a begging letter, though high-spirited, not maudlin. Sandry wanted to talk things over with Twain about how to get out of the scrape he was in, of being wealthy one day and a pauper the next. Sandry enclosed his photo, somewhat overexposed [MTP]. Sam wrote on the envelope: “Young Canadian Tramp.”
June – Rodney evaluates Sam’s reputation after his stay on the Continent:
Taken in perspective, Mark Twain’s reception abroad had become something phenomenal by 1899. As a personality he was probably the best-known and most popular American among Western Europeans. As a writer his outreach beyond national and cultural boundaries was extraordinary. His major works had been published in more than six hundred international editions. …foreign editions made up almost three-quarters of the total output. … Those last two years on the Continent added little to his literary stature, but his writings and his personality assured his celebrity in Austria-Hungary. In the spring of 1899 he was oriented toward England and a closer kinship with English-speaking people. London was still his lodestone after all those European migrations [230].
Two weeks during June, before the 23rd, Sam investigated Kellgren’s osteophathic treatments at his London facility. In his Aug. 3 to Rogers from Sanna, Sweden, Sam related what made his decision.
So I went down to Kellgren’s London gymnasium and tried the treatment, and saw that it would prop a person up physically, whether it could cure disease or not. We decided to come here to the summer establishment and take the treatment 3 months [Aug. 2 to Rogers]. Note: in his June 24 to Knight, Sam mentioned buying the tickets for passage to Sweden, so these visits to Kellgren’s London facility took place prior to June 23. See also July 30 to Walker, where Sam claimed he “experimented with it a fortnight at the London headquarters.”
June 1 Thursday – At the Prince of Wales Hotel in Kensington (West London), Sam wrote to Poultney Bigelow.
All right—make it between 12th and 17th if you prefer.
We arrived last evening and the trunks haven’t come. This is a condition of things! [MTP].
Sam also cabled the Hotel Krantz in Vienna: “Ask Cook when those 8 trunks will come” [MTP]. Note: this cable is listed as June only, but given Sam’s note above to Bigelow mentioning no trunks, it’s likely the cable was sent the day after they arrived.
Sam also wrote to Joe Twichell:
SLC used mourning border for most letters from Susy’s death on, then from Livy’s death on.