April 6 Saturday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam inscribed an aphorism in a copy of JA to Helen Fulton: “To / Miss Helen Fulton / with the respectful salutations / of the Author. On the whole it is better to deserve honors & not have them, than to have them & not deserve them. / Truly Yours / Mark Twain/ New York, April 6/07.” [MTP].
Sam also inscribed a copy of CS to Mary Thacher Higginson: “To / Mrs. Thomas Wentworth Higginson / with the warm regards of / The Autho / April 6/07.” [MTP].
Sam also inscribed a copy of JA to Katy Murray: “To / Katy Murray / from the oldest member of the household / The Author. On the whole it is better to deserve honors & not have them, than to have them & not deserve them. / Truly Yours / Mark Twain/ New York, April 6/07.” [MTP].
Sam also inscribed a copy of JA to Catherine Gregory: “To / Catherine Gregory / from her friend / The Author. / On the whole it is better to deserve honors & not have them, than to have them & not deserve them. / Truly Yours / Mark Twain/ April 6/07.” [Sotheby’s Auction 10 July 2003, Item 161271, Lot 200]. The source notes: “The recipient Catherine Gregory, who emigrated to America from Ireland when fifteen years old, was personal maid to Clemens for approximately five years. Her aunt Miss Catherine [Katy] Leary also worked for Clemens at around the same time, probably as housekeeper.”
Clara Clemens returned from Katonah, N.Y. She would leave again in two days [Hill 170].
Spectator ran an anonymous review, “Mark Twain on Christian Science,” p. 536-7. Tenney: “A review of CHRISTIAN SCIENCE, a chaotic book which will tire and confuse readers even though most will accept MT’s conclusions. ‘It appears that criticism of any sort is not Mark Twain’s métier,’ and his argument from internal evidence that Mary Baker Eddy did not write SCIENCE AND HEALTH is weak. ‘Altogether, this book is unfortunate. Uproarious passages in it which have all Mark Twain’s old drollery and delightful extravagance tell us that his great comic powers are unimpaired. They wait to be reapplied successfully’” [Tenney: “A Reference Guide Second Annual Supplement,” American Literary Realism, Autumn 1978 p. 174].
Isabel Lyon’s journal: Delightful letter from A.B.P. All my day I spent with C.C. shopping. She came in from Katonah and C.E.W. went around with us. We went to see Mary Lawton as the Firefly in “When we were 21”. She was very handsome and acted very well—but is too big —she dominates the stage [MTP TS 49].
Fritz Engel wrote a one-page letter from Berlin, in German on The Berliner Tageblatt Editorial Feature letterhead. Since they were not in possession of Sam’s exact address, they counted on his popularity for the letter to reach his hands. They requested his opinion of the Tageblatt sent [MTP]. Note: Lyon wrote on the letter: “Answd Apl 17 ’07”; Notes by Holger Kersten, who translated the letter:
Fritz Engel (1867-1935), German journalist, theater critic, and writer of plays and poems. Worked for the Berliner Tageblatt until 1933; starting in 1890, he was editor of Ulk, a humorous supplement to Berliner Tageblatt; a member of several cultural and literary societies; edited books on George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare as well as a number of lesser known German authors [Source: Archiv Bibliographia Judaica [ed.]. Lexikon deutsch-jüdischer Autoren [Encyclopedia of German-Jewish Authors]. Vol. 6: Dore – Fein. 20 vols. München: Saur, 1998: 366-371.]
Charles J. Langdon sent Sam a draft of $44.34, his one third proportion of the rent due from the Buffalo property for March and April. “It was a very great delight, your recent visit with us here…” [MTP].
Dora Wheeler Keith wrote from NYC to Sam. “I have gotten out the sketch of Mrs. Clemens & Jean from the old house where I have stored it—& I am now putting it in shape, as it is very much out of order. I wonder could you let me have any photographs you have of Mrs. Clemens —to work up the arm & hair from?” [MTP].