December 26 Tuesday – Sam and Isabel Lyon attended an afternoon song recital at Carnegie Hall by Mme. Johanna Gadski (1872-1932), German soprano who achieved worldwide success and whose recordings survive. Leaving the building Clemens spotted a young girl who later wrote she was “yearning” to speak with him. They chatted briefly about the weather, and the following day she would write him a note; they would begin an affectionate correspondence.
December 27 Wednesday – Hawkins writes that Sam overestimated the response to King Leopold’s Soliloquy “and was disappointed by the Catholic response to the pamphlet. He had hoped to start a conflict between Catholics and Protestants over the Congo misrule, with the notion that Protestants would come out in force against Leopold, since the notable Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore had defended Leopold.
December 28 Thursday – Sam went to the West Side Court to view a libel trial brought by William d’Alton Mann (1839-1920), publisher of Town Topics against Collier’s Weekly and Norman Hapgood, editor in chief of that periodical. (Mann was a Civil War officer who fought under George Armstrong Custer at Gettysburg, and rose to the rank of Colonel. See more below Times article) Sam was not there to offer testimony. The New York Times wrote of Mark Twain “a Spectator in Court” in their article, Dec. 29, p.5 “Mr.
December 29 Friday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Sam replied to Clarence C. Buel (incoming not extant).
December 29–31 Sunday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Sam replied to the Dec. 12 from Paula Lorch (Mrs. Emil Lorch)—was he writing another great book? Lorch was in Nurnberg, Bavaria.
“I am happy to say dear Madame, that I am writing another book & that it is half finished; also that I am writing 4 other books, & they are half finished; & finally, that I do honestly intend to finish all of them, but do not really expect to finish any of them. It is an odd confession, but it is perfectly true” [MTP].
“I am happy to say dear Madame, that I am writing another book & that it is half finished; also that I am writing 4 other books, & they are half finished; & finally, that I do honestly intend to finish all of them, but do not really expect to finish any of them. It is an odd confession, but it is perfectly true” [MTP].
December 30 Saturday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Sam wrote to H.H Rogers.
I had already telegraphed Booker “All right, but don’t commit me to talk upon any particular subject.”
Are you going to spend Saturday afternoon at home, tomorrow? If so chalk your cue and expect me right after luncheon [MTHHR 604]. Note: Sam planned to speak at Carnegie Hall to honor the 25 anniversary of Tuskegee Institute by Booker T. Washington. It is not known if Rogers agreed.
My dear Mr. Clemens:—
I had already telegraphed Booker “All right, but don’t commit me to talk upon any particular subject.”
Are you going to spend Saturday afternoon at home, tomorrow? If so chalk your cue and expect me right after luncheon [MTHHR 604]. Note: Sam planned to speak at Carnegie Hall to honor the 25 anniversary of Tuskegee Institute by Booker T. Washington. It is not known if Rogers agreed.
My dear Mr. Clemens:—
December 31 Sunday –Sam also wrote his signature to William H. Ridgway in Contesville, Penn.: “None Genuine without this signature on the bottle: / Truly Yours / Mark Twain” [MTP].
Sam also wrote to George Standring:
Dear Standring it was good to hear from you. I wish you lived here, & close by—I should enjoy that. For I have no young friends now; except Aldrich & [Thomas] Wentworth
Higginson & Julia Ward Howe & Edward Everet Hale: Howells is old, Tom Reed & John Hay were young, but they are gone.
Sam also wrote to George Standring:
Dear Standring it was good to hear from you. I wish you lived here, & close by—I should enjoy that. For I have no young friends now; except Aldrich & [Thomas] Wentworth
Higginson & Julia Ward Howe & Edward Everet Hale: Howells is old, Tom Reed & John Hay were young, but they are gone.
Late December – Mrs. Helen Grandin Lord, corresponding secretary of the Sorosis 1868 requested Sam’s presence on a printed invitation to luncheon on Monday, January 1 , 1906 at 1 p.m. at the Waldorf-Astoria. Sometime before that date Sam wrote on the invitation for Isabel Lyon: “Decline it” [MTP].
Paine Hired, Dictations Begin – Retired from Congo – Auto Show – Pleas for Tuskegee Gridiron Club – Swapping Lies with Joe Cannon – Tea at Columbia U. Blots from “Marjorie” – Pallbearer for McAleer – MT Fans Mob Majestic – Putzel Daily with Charlotte – “A” Clubbers – Gorky & Scandal – Speaks for Blind Upstaging Billiardists – Kissing Vassar Girls – Pleas for S.F. Quake Victims – Bronchitis Lying Fallow in Dublin – Harper Treacheries – Eve’s Diary – Poor Old Friend is Free Harvey Picks A.D. segments for N.A.R. – Clara Recovers in Norfolk – Butter from a Pal O Damn Nietzsche!
January – In N.Y.C. Sam wrote an aphorism to The Printer’s Home: “Let us save the to- morrows for work. / Truly Yours / Mark Twain, / Jan./06” [MTP:Mac Donnell, No. 22, Item 123].
Sam also inscribed a printed bust portrait of himself to an unidentified person: “S.L. Clemens / Truly yours / Mark Twain / Jan.06” [MTP:Hamilton catalogs, Sept. 12, 1968, Item 88].
Sam also inscribed a photograph of himself to Klaus Kaempher in Berlin: “Truly Yours / Mark Twain / Jan./ 06” [MTP].
Sam also inscribed a printed bust portrait of himself to an unidentified person: “S.L. Clemens / Truly yours / Mark Twain / Jan.06” [MTP:Hamilton catalogs, Sept. 12, 1968, Item 88].
Sam also inscribed a photograph of himself to Klaus Kaempher in Berlin: “Truly Yours / Mark Twain / Jan./ 06” [MTP].
January 1 Monday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y.C. Sam replied to Gertrude Natkin’s Dec. 31 note.
Don’t forget, dear, to make your New-Year good-resolutions. Not that I think you need any reforming, for I don’t; I love you plenty well enough, just as you are. Happy New-Year! I forgot to say it before: this comes of being 17 times as old as you are, & accordingly cripple in my mind & forgetful [MTP].
Isabel Lyon’s journal:
Jean, 11; 1:20, 7 p.m., very severe.
January 2 Tuesday – Isabel Lyon’s journal:
January 3 Wednesday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Sam wrote to William D’Alton Mann.
I supposed its intent was malicious, but if Fiske wrote it it wasn’t. I went to the Court for a very definite purpose; but as I have not spoken to any one about it, no one knows what it was but myself.
I supposed its intent was malicious, but if Fiske wrote it it wasn’t. I went to the Court for a very definite purpose; but as I have not spoken to any one about it, no one knows what it was but myself.
January 4 Thursday – Isabel Lyon’s journal:
Today young Mr. [Horace] Ashton came and made 8 photographs of Mr. Clemens in his bed. Not very good.
Today young Mr. [Horace] Ashton came and made 8 photographs of Mr. Clemens in his bed. Not very good.
January 5 Friday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Sam wrote to Herbert Gunnison (1858-1932), publisher of the Brooklyn Eagle, declining an invitation (not extant) [Christie’s auction 24 May 2002, Lot 1, Sale 1083]. Note: Gunnison was an “avid collector who sought to obtain material from a variety of 19 century personalities in the political, military, religious and cultural spectrums. The collection contains approximately 2000 items” [Ibid].
January 6 Saturday – Clara Clemens continued to suffer a throat affliction. On this day she returned to the Norfolk sanitarium; she would return on Jan. 9, then go to Atlantic City [IVL TS 4; Hill 121].
Albert Bigelow Paine called on Sam at 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. about the possibility of writing Mark Twain’s biography. Paine writes of the meeting:
Albert Bigelow Paine called on Sam at 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. about the possibility of writing Mark Twain’s biography. Paine writes of the meeting:
January 7 Sunday – Isabel Lyon’s journal:
January 8 Monday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Sam wrote to Thomas S. Barbour resigning from the Congo Reform Assoc.
I have retired from the Congo.
January 8–February 12 – Sometime during this period, Sam wrote to the Robert Fulton Memorial Association, a letter which ran in the Feb. 18 issue, p. 20 of the NY Times:
January 9 Tuesday – Sam began a series of Autobiographical Dictations (hereinafter referred to as A.D.) for Albert Bigelow Paine. Paine brought Miss Josephine Hobby, a part- time stenographer, employed by Century Magazine for many years (she would be fired in Sept. 1908 by Isabel Lyon). Miss Hobby had also worked for Charles Dudley Warner and Mary Mapes Dodge [MTB 1266]. The dictations continued with fair regularity throughout 1906 and 7, thereafter intermittently. The last recorded dictation was on Dec. 29, 1909 [MTHHR 607n1]. Note: MTHHR 607n1 uses Jan.
January 10 Wednesday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Sam wrote to unidentified gentlemen.
January 11 Thursday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Sam declined an invitation from an unidentified man, giving the reason that “I have made all the engagements for this year that I can keep” [MTP].
Sam also sent a telegram to Thomas Bailey Aldrich and Lilian W. Aldrich in Boston: “A happy voyage and a quick return” [MTP].
Clemens’ A.D. for this day involved a Jan. 3 letter from Laura K. Hudson and his reply of Jan. 12 concerning his Dec. 17, 1877 Whittier birthday “debacle” [AMT 1: 260-267].
January 12 Friday – Fred Nye of the Sunday N.Y. World wrote asking if Sam would write for their “humorous campaign in favor of the most down-trodden and abused person in the United States—Father.” On or just after this was received Sam answered: “I think it unlikely that the Harpers would approve, but even if they did I have no intention of writing a miscellaneous article on any body.”
January 13 Saturday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Sam wrote instructions to Isabel Lyon for John Larkin: “Ask Larkin to appoint next Saturday for the tax office & make it $5,000. I want to write it up” [MTP]. Note: Larkin characterized Larkin as “my friend and attorney.”
January 14 Sunday – The New York Times, p.9 “What is Doing in Society”: “Mr. and Mrs. Cleveland H. Dodge have invitations out for a dinner for Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain,) on Friday next,” or Jan. 19. Note: Cleveland Hoadley Dodge (1860-1926), philanthropist active in NY politics, was the grandson of William E. Dodge, Jr. (1832-1903) Clemens’ neighbor in Riverside. See Aug. 13, 1903 entry.
Isabel Lyon’s journal:
Isabel Lyon’s journal: