July 30 Sunday – In Dublin, N.H. Sam wrote a note to George B. Harvey and attached it to a typed Installment of Mark Twain’s Autobiography.
Dear Harvey: I have corrected this September instalment. Please transfer the corrections to your duplicate, then send this one to “Miss Clara Clemens, Norfolk, Conn.” I think she will add no corrections, but it is best to send it anyway; for she is naturally violent, & if you ever print one of these without letting her give it the seal of her final supervision & authority, somebody’s scalp will disappear—probably yours. Do this, & oblige / Your uncle [MTP]. Note: that Sam would allow Clara to edit any of his writing for publication bespeaks of his estimate of her improvement.
Isabel Lyon’s journal: Today Mr. Clemens and Jean lunched with Mrs. P.[aul] L. Ford and tonight they dined with the Franklin MacVeaghs. Mr. Clemens is exhausted by these social functions. He came home from Mrs. Ford’s weak and almost discouraged, and went right up to bed to rest for the evening. It was raining hard, and in the midst of the pour Mr. Thayer came tiptoeing in with a book for Mr. Clemens. At the MacVeagh’s tonight they trapped Mr. Clemens into telling stories. It wasn’t a kind thing to do.
Later—Aug. 6. We have since heard that whoever has a song and dance must perform it for the MacVeaghs, and that explains [MTP TS 83]. Franklin MacVeagh (1837-1934), banker; brother to Wayne MacVeagh, became Secretary of Treasury in 1909 under Taft.
Augustus P. Chamberlaine wrote to Sam. The Chamberlaines had been using the Dublin area for their summer home for 25 years—“We are glad that you have chosen this good, solitary, old mountain for your summer rest”[MTP].
On or after this date in Dublin, N.H. Isabel V. Lyon replied for Sam to Augustus P. Chamberlaine. “Perhaps Jean will ride over with Patrick within a day or so, & ask them to drive over for luncheon here. Any day M . Chamberlaine may suggest. M . Clemens would go to Fitzwilliam, but he is not equal to a long drive, and he wants to see the Chamberlaine’s” [MTP].
Frank H. Mason wrote from Berlin, Germany to Sam. Samuel Moffett had been there “a few days before” with a letter of introduction from Clemens—“a most interesting and valuable jar” to him. Though Mason had not seen Clemens for a long time he had heard of his triumphs and sorrows and they’d kept him in a warm corner of their hearts. He told of sharing “two priceless weeks” with John Hay before he “sailed away on his last voyage home” [MTP].
Dear Harvey: I have corrected this September instalment. Please transfer the corrections to your duplicate, then send this one to “Miss Clara Clemens, Norfolk, Conn.” I think she will add no corrections, but it is best to send it anyway; for she is naturally violent, & if you ever print one of these without letting her give it the seal of her final supervision & authority, somebody’s scalp will disappear—probably yours. Do this, & oblige / Your uncle [MTP]. Note: that Sam would allow Clara to edit any of his writing for publication bespeaks of his estimate of her improvement.
Isabel Lyon’s journal: Today Mr. Clemens and Jean lunched with Mrs. P.[aul] L. Ford and tonight they dined with the Franklin MacVeaghs. Mr. Clemens is exhausted by these social functions. He came home from Mrs. Ford’s weak and almost discouraged, and went right up to bed to rest for the evening. It was raining hard, and in the midst of the pour Mr. Thayer came tiptoeing in with a book for Mr. Clemens. At the MacVeagh’s tonight they trapped Mr. Clemens into telling stories. It wasn’t a kind thing to do.
Later—Aug. 6. We have since heard that whoever has a song and dance must perform it for the MacVeaghs, and that explains [MTP TS 83]. Franklin MacVeagh (1837-1934), banker; brother to Wayne MacVeagh, became Secretary of Treasury in 1909 under Taft.
Augustus P. Chamberlaine wrote to Sam. The Chamberlaines had been using the Dublin area for their summer home for 25 years—“We are glad that you have chosen this good, solitary, old mountain for your summer rest”[MTP].
On or after this date in Dublin, N.H. Isabel V. Lyon replied for Sam to Augustus P. Chamberlaine. “Perhaps Jean will ride over with Patrick within a day or so, & ask them to drive over for luncheon here. Any day M . Chamberlaine may suggest. M . Clemens would go to Fitzwilliam, but he is not equal to a long drive, and he wants to see the Chamberlaine’s” [MTP].
Frank H. Mason wrote from Berlin, Germany to Sam. Samuel Moffett had been there “a few days before” with a letter of introduction from Clemens—“a most interesting and valuable jar” to him. Though Mason had not seen Clemens for a long time he had heard of his triumphs and sorrows and they’d kept him in a warm corner of their hearts. He told of sharing “two priceless weeks” with John Hay before he “sailed away on his last voyage home” [MTP].
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