February 10 Wednesday — In Redding, Conn. Sam wrote a note of introduction “To any friend or acquaintance of mine” for Albert Bigelow Paine, “my biographer & particular friend, who is seeking information concerning me for use in his book.” [MTP]. Note: Sam may have written several of these as two survive, UCCL # 07666 and 08345,
Gribben gives us an item from Sam’s A.D. for this day: “While Clemens worked on the manuscript for ‘Is Shakespeare Dead?,’ he intermittently read aloud from Macbeth to Isabel Lyon on 10 February 1909 (IVL’s Notes, Berg Collection, TS in MTP)” [628].
American Architect & Building News ran an anonymous article, “Mark Twain’s House at Redding, Connecticut” [Tenney 46: The Twainian Oct. 1939 p.4]. In his third supplement, Tenney adds: “A description of the ‘Stormfield’ house, with a floor plan for the first floor, two photographs of the house, and an autographed photo of MT on the loggia. Text of autograph: “The loggia, a production of Howells & Stokes, together with its principal decoration, as furnished by Mark Twain. Oct. ‘09’” (Tenney, ALR Third Annual Supplement to the Reference Guide (Autumn, 1979) 193-4].
Harold Clemens wrote from NYC to Sam, redirecting a misguided letter intended for Sam [MTP].
Alice Colby wrote from Hamilton, Mo. to ask Sam for a statement of opinion on “The American Girl” for their club reading [MTP].
Max Hinrichs wrote from German to Sam. The letter in German “is a long-winded letter from a student of the law who attempts to be funny by explaining on three pages what he doesn't want before he finally gets around to saying that he would appreciate an autograph from Twain. The sender is Max Hinrichs, Poldingstr. 17, II], Deutschland, province of Schleswig-Holstein” [MTP]. Note: translation and summary courtesy of Holger Kersten.
Knickerbocker Publishing wrote to confirm for their forthcoming National American Biography whether Sam was one of five, seven or eight children [MTP].
Francis M. Verdi, George Pildrilen, Jacob Delmonte, and Bernard Weisberg wrote for the Educational Theatre for Children to explain recent events of Mrs. Emma Sheridan Fry’s resignation, with whom they sympathized. They asked Clemens to use his influence to reinstate her and listed 23 names in support of their view, and who would leave the group after the Boston performance [MTP]. Note: see Jan. 21 by Mrs. Fry.