December – Sometime during the month Sam attended a private dinner hosted by Daniel Frohman. At that dinner he met Elinor Sutherlin Glyn (Mrs. Clayton Glyn) (1864-1943), British novelist and scriptwriter, the sister of Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon. She led the way in erotic fiction for women, marketed to the masses, and had arrived that fall after the release of her first successful novel, Three Weeks (1907) which had been a hit in England.
November 30 Saturday – Sam’s 72nd Birthday. The New York Times, Dec. 1, p. 1, “Mark Twain 72” reported “Hundreds of congratulatory letters and telegrams were received during the day from points all over the world. Many friends called a the house to congratulate him.”
In N.Y.C. Sam inscribed an aphorism in a copy of Eve’s Diary to an unidentified person: “With the love of the Author. November 30, 1907. Clothes make the man, but they do not improve the Woman, Truly yours, Mark Twain.” [MTP].
November 29 Friday – Sam finished his Nov. 21 to Mary B. Rogers.
Mariechen, I didn’t say sins, I said it covered a multitude of charms. And it is perfectly true. I wish you wouldn’t be always misquoting me & discouraging all my attempts to learn how to be veracious. For I do so want to learn how, dear.
I don’t know where you are but I am guessing that you are in Tuxedo. You were very delightful yesterday./ Affectionately / Your Uncle Mark [MTP].
November 28 Thursday – Thanksgiving – Sam lunched at H.H. Roger’s home where he likely saw Mary B. Rogers, and thought her “very delightful” [Nov. 29 to Mary Rogers; Dec. 1 to Jean]. He dined out in the evening and returned home at 11 p.m., with a neighbor (unspecified), played billiards until 4 a.m.
Helen Campbell wrote from Camden, NJ to beg a loan of $500 from Sam [MTP].
November 27 Wednesday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam sent a telegram to Frances Nunnally, at St. Timothy’s School, Catonsville, Md: “I HOPE YOUR TEAM WILL WIN FRANCESCA DEAR I COULD NOT GO TO BOSTON” / SL CLEMENS” [MTP].
Sam also sent a telegram to Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Warfield, Governor of Maryland: “BEST THANKSGIVING WISHES TO YOU ALL, BY NO MEANS FORGETTING MISS LOUISE” [MTP].
November 26 Tuesday – Nelle R. Eberhart, Oscar Eberhart, Charles Wakefield Codman, and Blanche K. Knowlton wrote from Homestead Pa. to Editors of Harper’s. “We have just finished reading ‘Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven.’ / Give us more on the same plan. We have been reading advanced thought for fifteen years and rarely find much that is congenial in the magazines” [MTP].
John H. Johnston wrote to Sam.
November 25 Monday – Julia Barnett Rice for the Society of Suppression of Noise wrote to Sam: “Dear Mr. Clemens / We both thank you—the small boy and I. /Gratefully yours…” [MTP]. Note: Rice was crusading against fireworks that injured and killed many small boys each July.
November 24 Sunday – Mary L. Brady wrote to thank Sam for the P&P play; she also praised Mrs. Fry and Miss Herts [MTP].
Richard Conried wrote from NYC to ask to include Clemens’ name on the list of patrons for their Jan. 7 Benefit Entertainment, Manhattan Trade School for Girls [MTP]. Note: Lyon wrote on the letter, “Use the name”
Kate Douglas Riggs wrote a verse in reply to Sam’s thanks for the “noble feed & noble company” note of Nov. 22 [MTP]. Note: see the poem in MTJ, 21:3 (Spring, 1983).
November 23 Saturday – Hamilton W. Mabie’s article, “Mark Twain the Humorist,” ran in Outlook (NY), p. 648-53. Tenney: “A general, admiring discussion of the man and his works, generally uncritical though noting the ephemeral quality of some of his writing. On p. 648, full- page photograph of MT” [44].
Joseph B. Gilder for Putnam’s Monthly wrote to Miss Lyon about Sam sitting for a portrait [MTP].
November 22 Friday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam wrote a short note to Kate D. Riggs. “It was a noble feed & a noble company, and you are a dear. Heaven bless you! / MARK” [MTP: Nora Archibald Smith, Kate Douglas Wiggin as Her Sister Knew Her, 1925 p.139]. See Rigg’s Nov. 24 reply.
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