November 8 Wednesday – William Ten Eyck Hardenbrook wrote from N.Y.C. to Sam asking for a photograph of him for a “reference collection of portraits, with biographical data of one hundred of the most eminent living Americans.” He supplied a list of photographers who would do a sitting at no cost to Sam should he lack a photograph. On or just after this date Miss Lyon replied for Sam that he did not keep photos on hand but “9—made a good one a year ago,” probably referring to number nine on the list of photographers [MTP].
At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y.C. Sam also replied per Lyon to George B. Lauder’s Oct. 26 and Nov. 6
(see entries): “Dear Sir / You fooled me completely. I didn’t divine what the [Oct. 26] letter was concealing, neither did the newspaper men; so you are a very competent deceiver. / Truly Yours” [MTB 1424].
Isabel Lyon’s Journal # 2: “Telephone cigar people to send a Humidor for Mr. Clemens’s inspection” [MTP TS 33].
Sam also instructed Isabel V. Lyon to thank Joseph O. Thompson, who wrote to inquire about Sam giving a reading. Sam instructed Lyon, who noted: “Thank him very much indeed—but it wouldn’t be possible for he never goes on the platform any more” [MTP].
In the evening Sam and only eight other members attended the first annual dinner of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. John Burroughs, voted into the academy this year, noted: “Dinner was not a success—only nine members present. Mark Twain very diverting, as he always is” [Barrus 2: 87].
From the Minutes of the American Academy of Arts and Letters:
The first meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Letters was held at the Aldine Association, 111 Fifth Avenue, New York, at seven o’clock, November 8, 1905. After dinner had been served organization was effected by the election of Mr. John Bigelow as presiding member of the evening. The other members present were Messrs. [John] Burroughs, [SamuelLanghorne] Clemens, [Daniel Chester] French, [Richard Watson] Gilder, [Thomas R.] Lounsbury, [Horatio William] Parker, [James Ford] Rhodes and [Edmund Clarence] Stedman [Thanks to Kathy Kienholz Archivist, American Academy of Arts and Letters].
Anna Harris Smith for the Animal Rescue League, Boston, thinking Sam was still in Boston, wrote to ask Sam to visit “this Home for homeless, suffering and undesired dogs and cats which I established nearly seven years ago.” She praised “A Dog’s Tale,” and denied she wanted any money [MTP].
November 8, after – In N.Y.C. Sam wrote to an unidentified woman in Boston.
Dear Madam / Your letter of Nov 8th has overtaken me in New York. I am exceedingly sorry I did not get it in Boston; in which case I would have found time for a visit to your home for the homeless animals even if I had been obliged to break engagements to accomplish it. Thanking you for your kind words & wishing you every prosperity / I am Sincerely Yours [MTP]. Note: this might very well be a response to the Nov. 8 from Anna Harris Smith.