Forum Members: I am reading this exchange in digest form, so must
apologize for the delay. Here are excerpts from my paper, "'Youth' and the
'Old Icelandic Scholar': The Friendship of Mark Twain and Willard Fiske,"
which I presented at the 2001 State of Mark Twain Studies conference.
(Footnotes have been renumbered for the sake of this posting.)
This response is in answer to the question about Florence villas. However, I
am also taking the opportunity to raise the issue of the long-sought,
missing books from Mark Twain's personal library, as this was also addressed
in my paper. Professor Fiske in 1874 spearheaded a drive for book donations
from members of the Nook Farm community (and others), with several
libraries/organizations in Iceland as the beneficiaries. Donated at this
time were 26 cases of books. Further cases of books were later shipped to
Iceland, but more on that anon.
First the info about the Florence villas, and then on to Iceland. The villas
mentioned in the following texts are: Villa Forini (Fiske); Villa Viviani
(Clemens); Villa Landor (Fiske); Villa Papiniano (Clemens; secured but then
cancelled); and Villa Reale di Quarto (Clemens).
Fiske lived at the Villa Forini in Florence. He boasted to C. D.
Warner: "It is historical...has frescoes 300 yrs old, and several
marble tablets commemorative of the incidents connected with it
on its façade. I took Howells to see it; we went all over it and he
swelled with envy."(1) In a letter to Warner of April 10, 1884,
Fiske wrote, "There have been no end of...callers, from 30 to 40
always making their appearance on my afternoon (Sunday)." (2)
[...]
In 1892, Mark Twain and his wife stopped in Florence. "Both Mark
Twain and Olivia were enchanted by the ambience of Florence and
the beauty of the Arno Valley and the surrounding Tuscan hills. So
much so that before they left they made arrangements to rent, for
the following winter, the Villa Viviani near Settignano just outside
the city."(3) Documents show that Fiske was granted power of
attorney in May and that the papers for the villa were finalized on
behalf of the Clemenses in June.
The Villa Viviani has been described as "an old palace beautifully
located on the hilltops east of Florence, commanding a wonderful
view of the ancient city."(4) At the time the Clemenses were moving
in, Fiske was residing at the Villa Landor. After the Villa Forini,
these were historic digs in their own right. Fiske had written to
Susan Warner on March 20, 1892: "I am camped out in the villa
of Walter Savage Landor--trying to buy it, thus far without much
success.... Here he lived and quarrelled, and wrote his Imaginary
Conversations and entertained Bulwer-Lytton and Emerson and
Nat Willis and the Hares and lots of other people."(5)
[...]
At Fiske's suggestion, Gregory Smith assisted the Clemenses in their
search for lodgings. The Clemenses' first choice had been the Villa
Papiniano, "a darling location, and apparently a choice house, near
[Willard] Fiske."(6) However, "..the arrangements for [that] villa
had to be canceled," and with the help of Smith, "the family secured
instead the Villa Reale di Quarto in the hills west of Florence but
closer to the city."(7)
In spite of their best efforts, this villa also proved unsatis-
factory. Mark Twain wrote to Howells on March 14, 1904,
"We are hunting for another villa, (this one is plenty large
enough but has no room in it) but even if we find it I am afraid
it will be months before we can move Mrs. Clemens.... But
it comforts us to let on that we think otherwise, and these
pretensions help to keep hope alive in her."(8)
[...]
However, Fiske went on to give his insights into the impending
change of villas:
The Clemenses have taken the great Villa di Quarto, often
inhabited by other and former royalties. But they are now
desirous of changing it for another, partly because of a
disagreeable landlady, partly because it is forty-five
minutes' drive away from the city, partly, I think, because
the only rooms that can be assigned to Mrs. Clemens are
not such as they think good for her. She does not begin
to improve yet as she ought, and we all feel great sympathy
with her, and are praying that she may become speedily
better. I have seen her but once, when we had such a good
talk, but I have had several kind pencilled notes from her
bed. She sees nobody but the family, the physicians thinking
that excitement is bad for her--even the slightest. I do so
pity her and them. If you write to her be careful to do it
in a cheerful mood. Perhaps spring may bring her relief.
Mark is somewhat lionized--as much as Florence can
lionize, and I think they would all enjoy the town if only
Mrs. C. were in better health.(9)
[...]
Andrew D. White [who was Cornell University's first president in
1866] wrote to Fiske on April 20, 1904: "We had a pleasant
afternoon with Mark Twain at his Villa;--which, by the way, I
would not live in if it were given me,--and two admirable
luncheons at Mr. Cannon's,--at one of which we met the Twains;
that is, father and daughter,--and at another the Berensons." The
letter continued, "Have driven out several times with the Shaeffers,
taking them to Mark Twain's...."(10)
The true "nub" of my paper, however, was the evidence I compiled which
suggested some of the missing books from Mark Twain's personal library may
be in Iceland. These would be books dating up to 1874, or any book that Mark
Twain may have passed along to his bibliophile friend Fiske after 1874 for
his private use and then bequeathed to Iceland at Fiske's death. (Some of
these Mark Twain-owned books in Iceland, if they exist, could be previously
unknown--i.e., do not appear in Gribben's _Mark Twain's Library: A
Reconstruction_.)
Fiske--an Icelandophile, librarian, linguist, chess expert, and Cornell
professor--garners little more than a passing mention in the usual Mark
Twain biographical material. However, my paper demonstrated that theirs may
have been a friendship of 30 years or more; and I found evidence suggesting
they could have been acquainted as early as 1871.
Here is a portion of what my paper (and a subsequent article I wrote) had to
say on the subject of books:
Not surprisingly, Professor Fiske had some of his Hartford friends
in mind when, in 1874, the Millennial Celebration of Iceland's
colonization inspired Fiske to solicit what would amount to 22
cases(11) of books "to be donated to the national library at
Reykjavík"(12) and others. Bayard Taylor travelled to Iceland
for the occasion to report the events for the New York Tribune.(13)
...Fiske felt the most appropriate gift from the New World
to the highly literate but physically isolated Iceland would
be American books for Icelandic libraries. To this end he
sent out a communication to many disparate parties, notably
scholars, who might join in the generous gesture of making
American books more readily available to Icelanders. The
task was undertaken with a minimum of emphasis of Fiske's
own name. We do not know to how many persons Fiske
sent the appeal, but among them were...Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow...[and] Bayard Taylor.(14)
Also "among the donors were the universities of Cornell, Harvard,
and Yale, various societies...[and] religious groups...and numerous
individuals including, in addition to those already named--who also
responded--W. D. Howells, Asa Gray, John Greenleaf Whittier,
Francis Parkman, and Henry James."(15) Others said to have donated
books were "Dean Sage, Richard Henry Stoddard, [and] Charles
Dudley Warner."(16)
"Fiske's appeal met with remarkable success. Institutions as well as
individuals responded positively and arranged to have books sent to
Iceland."(17) "Fiske himself sent two cases of books to the national
library in Reykjavík and two to the Akureyri library with over 500
bound books and numerous pamphlets."(18)
That was only the first of several shipments of books to Iceland.
Eighteen seventy-four marked only the beginning of Fiske's literary
donations to Iceland, which continued at intervals throughout his
life and ended with a final bequest at the settlement of his estate.
Fiske the bibliophile had been a friend of Mark Twain's for
decades, as well as the Clemenses' neighbor in Florence in
1892-'93 and 1903-'04, so one would not be surprised if a
few of Twain's "discards" might have joined Fiske's own
holdings along the way.
Olivia Clemens passed away in Florence on June 5, 1904, and Professor Fiske
passed away on September 17, 1904, during a visit to Frankfort.
Had circumstances been such that Samuel Clemens were still in
Florence, he would have seen in the Italian Gazette of November
15, 1904 a lengthy description of the professor's will, including
its special provision for Grímsey island on Iceland's north
coast.(19) The will also directed that the Villa Landor be made
available for rent to various of Fiske's friends--to Charles Dudley
Warner, John Boyd Thacher, Horatio S. White, or to any
Professor of Cornell University.(20)
The bulk of Fiske's estate was willed to Cornell University; but
"[w]ith the exception of his special book collections, all the
volumes in Professor Fiske's possession were bequeathed to
the Icelandic National Library at Reykjavík. Many of these
works were presentation copies from the respective authors,
and a transcription of the inscriptions was made, prior to their
shipment to Iceland."(21) Also, "[h]is affection for Iceland is
further commemorated in a bequest of $12,000 to the Governor
General, the income of which is to be applied toward
ameliorating the condition of the inhabitants of the far northern
island of Grímsey..."(22) "...namely in improving the condition
of the habitations and other buildings on the island, in
contributing to the purchase of live stock, and supplies of fuel and
hay, and in providing for the maintenance of a public library."(23)
There is even more to the story, but that should give you folks plenty of
material on which to chew. I mention any of this because it bothers me that
these books are still largely unaccounted for.
Footnotes for the aforementioned excerpts can be found below. Please note
that I also cited in my paper some original sources not appearing in the
excerpts above. I was also in contact with the libraries/organizations in
Iceland that were the recipients of Fiske's book shipments (one of them not
named above). Some were able to provide me with information, though at
others the records were lost. One group informed me that up until 1912, many
of their books were sold at regularly held fundraiser auctions, and few of
the old books remain. As I state about this particular situation in my
follow-up article, "Books from Mark Twain's Personal Library May Be in
Iceland" (submitted for publication in 2002):
We can only conclude that volumes from Mark Twain's personal
library (if they existed), or any books donated at his behest,
may now be scattered across the Icelandic countryside.
Regards,
Mary Leah Christmas
* * *
KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS
LC: White, Horatio Stevens. Willard Fiske, Life and Correspondence: A
Biographical Study. New York: Oxford University Press, 1925.
MTO: Rodney, Robert M. Mark Twain Overseas. Washington, DC: Three Continents
Press, 1993.
PL: Paine, Albert Bigelow, ed. Mark Twain's Letters. 2 volumes. New York:
Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1917.
MTL2: Smith, Harriet Elinor, Richard Bucci, Lin Salamo, eds. Mark Twain's
Letters, Volume 2, 1867-1868. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1990.
WFI: Mitchell, P. M., ed. Willard Fiske in Iceland: Based on the Pocket
Notebook Kept During His Sojourn There, 1879. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
Library, 1989.
M3: White, Horatio Stevens. Memorials of Willard Fiske. Volume 3, The
Lecturer. Boston: Richard G. Badger, The Gorham Press, 1922.
FOOTNOTES
1. Willard Fiske letter from Paris to C. D. Warner, April 9, 1883. LC-383
2. LC-385
3. MTO-143
4. A. B. Paine's comments. PL2-564
5. LC-393
6. Letter dated 7/21/03 to J. H. Twichell. MTL2-741
7. MTO-246
8. PL2-751
9. LC-401
10. LC-470
11. WFI-3
12. M3-375
13. Ibid.
14. WFI-2-3
15. WFI-3
16. LC-147-148
17. WFI-2-3
18. WFI-3-4
19. LC-242-243
20. LC-220
21. LC-147. The list is presently unaccounted for.
22. LC-242-243
23. LC-222
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