May 3 Wednesday – At 21 Fifth Ave. in N.Y.C. Sam wrote to Robert Underwood Johnson about his nominee picks for the Academy of Arts and Letters.
No, I’ve named enough—I’ll stand pat on those. It ought to be a rule, & a rigid one, that whenever a man offers a name, he must get up & state his reasons for his choice. Without it, men vote their affections instead of their cold judgment. I wish you would propose it; if I were going to be there I would do it. Without this rule the Academy milk is bound to be watered. We all know this, by experience. Judas & Peter & some of the others would not have gotten in, if the Disciples had had the same ordinance [MTP].
Isabel Lyon’s journal: Win and Amy Cattelle came in to see Mother and me yesterday. Mr.Collier and Mr. Moffett dined with Mr. Clemens and so Mother and I dined at Cecchina’s [Italian restaurant]; such a rare time we had.
I was too tired to do anything but watch a long table full of dentist-like folk, and to be carried away by a party of 3 at the little round table. A tall beautiful young man, one who sat with his back to me, a charmingly voiced creature, and a woman with lovely grey hair, youngish face and a self contained manner. She ordered an omelette because she couldn’t eat the Cecchina productions. Hopelessly they had me enthralled, soon a woman in a low cut gown entered and sat behind me. Mother didn’t like her looks, I turned to look at her, when she put out her finger at me, saying “I know you”—but she didn’t, though I knew her for the very disagreeable and malicious woman [reporter] who came to write up Bambino and Mr. Clemens. I hedged her off tantalizingly, and then the man who sat with his back to me turned and said, “Please tell us who you are, my friend opposite is longing to know too.” I hesitated and when the woman finally left the room I told him, and he said my vis à vis was Mr. Binney of S.S. McClure and then Mr. Binney said “You wrote to me about 2 weeks ago” —“I?” and then came out about a book that the McClure Co. sent to Mr. Clemens to Elmira—but Mr. Clemens said that he didn’t know Elmira—never heard of it—his address was Indianapolis—so of course he couldn’t get the book, etc, etc., Mr. Binney looked his charming appreciation and they said (one of them), that the moment they looked at me they knew that I was “near some throne.” The man with his back to me was Mr. Faulkner and he knows the Thayers of Dublin and visits them. How very lovely —and how good to be alive [MTP: TS 55]. Note: Mr. Binney was actually Witter Bynner (1881-1968), later became a famous poet, editor for McClure’s Magazine; Mr. Faulkner was Barry Faulkner (1881-1966), artist and former classmate of Bynner’s at Harvard, was a cousin and student of Abbott Thayer’s. See AMT 1: 392, 606.
Katharine I. Harrison wrote to advise Sam that she had deposited to his account, $583.33 from Harper & Brothers and $500 from Guaranty Trust (as per tel. Message) [MTHHR 584n1].