Scott,
From letters in my recent book, *A New Orleans Author in Mark Twain's Court*:
*Letters from Grace King's New England Sojourns*:
*On May 20, 1892*, Livy writes Grace King from Venice.
*On July 1, 1892* from Bad Nauheim. She is there taking the "cure" (while
Mr. Clemens had gone to America, expecting to be gone for six weeks, two
already gone by). Susy and Livy's sister were traveling in Switzerland, and
Clara was in Berlin pursuing her music, to join Livy in about a week.
*On August 30, 1892*, Livy is still in Bad Nauheim. Clara can't go back to
Berlin because of the cholera scare. She writes about not knowing when "we"
will start for Italy, so Clemens is back from America and with her at Bad
Nauheim.
*On Sept 2* she adds that he thinks they should stay right there in Bad
Nauheim. Hamburg is deep in cholera. "Mr Clemens says he has been
quaranteened[sic] once in his life and he never desires the experience
again."
*On September 5, 1892*, the Dr says he sees no reason why they can't leave
for Florence the following week (their rent at Villa Viviani had already
started), and they will take Clara with them until the scare is past. Their
"work here is finished."
*On Saturday, September 17, 1892*, Grace King writes from London to her
mother in New Orleans that the cholera scare is about over and the "Clemens
left for Florence last Saturday" [Sept 10] and that by Sunday [Sept 18] she
will know how they fared and will start to move toward them by the
following Tuesday [Sept 20].
*By October 7, 1892*, Grace King and her sister Nan are at Villa Viviani
with the Clemenses, having arrived in a rain storm. "Mr Clemens met us in
the station, put us into his iron carriage and drove us to the Villa." Nan
describes the villa in considerable detail to a friend. Grace has "never
seen Mr C so much himself - We all have such a good time together - which
never stops until both commence to beg me to stay over the Winter....Mrs
Clemens is in delicate health, but nothing at all serious" if she "gives up
this Winter to rest & quiet." He is "bubbling over with fun & devilment."
*On November 10*, he inscribes a copy of *The American Claimant* for Grace,
apparently upon the sisters' departure from the villa.
Apparently, Clara is back in Berlin by that time, because Jean writes Grace
on *November 19, 1892,* that they sent gloves in a package to Clara that
were really to go home with Grace for her brother.
Hope this helps your search,
Miki Pfeffer
On Mon, Oct 5, 2020 at 12:50 PM Scott Holmes <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> In February of 1892 Sam and Livy departed Berlin for the warmer climes
> of the French Riviera, the town of Merton. I'm attempting to map the
> route they took but can find no indication of the towns they may have
> passed through. I have an 1896 map that shows the railroads that
> existed in Europe at that time and it displays quite a complex web.
>
> It seems likely they returned via the same route they took to get to
> Berlin, through Frankfurt and Basel, but I don't know that.
>
> I don't have access to Sam's 1892 journals and Fears makes no mention of
> stops on the way. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated.
>
--
Miki Pfeffer, Ph D
*A** New Orlean**s Author i**n Mark Twain's Court: *
*Letters from Grace King's New England Sojourns *
(LSU Press, 2019)
*Southern Ladies and Suffragists: Julia Ward Howe and Women's Rights at the
1884 New Orleans World's Fair *(University Press of Mississippi, 2014)
|