December 13 Wednesday – According to the notation on the envelope of A. MacHugh’s and Y. MacLoghlan’s Nov. 13, Sam answered the “two Irish mugs” on this day.
The Man in the White Suit: Day By Day
December 14 Thursday – Sam sent another Dec. 6 form letter for the occasion of Sam’s 70 to Thomas Bailey Aldrich and Lilian W. Aldrich, now at their summer home, “Redfarm,” in Ponkapog, Mass. Sam added: “Apparently I am never going to get a chance to add a line, so I will just give it up till a later day &—God Almighty bless you both! / SLC / Dec. 14.” [MTP].
In N.Y.C. Isabel V. Lyon finished her Dec. 11 to Raffaello Stiattesi.
December 15 Friday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Sam wrote a short note to Robert Bacon. “Dear Mr. Bacon: / I am expecting to send you the full report (in French) & an elaborate digest of it (English). By mail or by the hand of a delegation of our Association” [MTP].
Sam also sent a Dec. 6 form letter for the occasion of his 70 birthday to John D. Rhodes, US Court of Claims, Washington, D.C. Sam added: “Alas, they have shut Huck & Tom out from the youth’s department of the Brooklyn Blind Asylum library!” [MTP]. Note: postmarked this
December 16 Saturday – Sam conferred sometime this day with actress Sarah Bernhardt, who was scheduled to appear at the Casino Theatre on Dec. 18 in a benefit for Jewish victims in Russia (see Dec. 14 insert advertisement) [Dec. 17 inscription in JA]. Sam showed initial interest in offering a few words for the event in his Dec. 13 response to the Shuberts. His meeting with Bernhardt likely involved his attendance and address for the following afternoon’s benefit. It was a cause that found Clemens’ sympathies.
December 17 Sunday – Sam wrote a longish inscription in JA to Sarah Bernhardt:
Ah, Madame the illustrious, I made a mistake yesterday; When you spoke of the “play,” I thought you meant the book—I have no play, I was never able to write a play. But this is the book; & it has one large merit: it puts no words into Jeanne’s mouth which she did not say.
With the homage of Yours very truly the Author, To Madame Sarah Bernhardt. Dec. 17/05 [MTP: Anderson Galleries catalog, Dec. 17, 1934, Item 61].
Ah, Madame the illustrious, I made a mistake yesterday; When you spoke of the “play,” I thought you meant the book—I have no play, I was never able to write a play. But this is the book; & it has one large merit: it puts no words into Jeanne’s mouth which she did not say.
With the homage of Yours very truly the Author, To Madame Sarah Bernhardt. Dec. 17/05 [MTP: Anderson Galleries catalog, Dec. 17, 1934, Item 61].
December 18 Monday – At the Casino Theatre in the afternoon (Lyon’s journal #2 gives it as 2 p.m) following a performance by Sarah Bernhardt, Sam offered a few words for the benefit of Jewish sufferers in Russia. The New York Times, Dec. 19, p. 9 reported the event:
MARK TWAIN SPEAKS
AFTER BERNHARDT ACTS
Jewish Benefit Audience Enjoys an Unusual Double Bill.
$3,000 FOR THE RELIEF FUND
——— ——— ———
Humorist Says He and the Actress Are Two of the Youngest Persons Alive.
December 19 Tuesday – Isabel Lyon’s journal # 2: “Dinner engagement / Miss Winifred Holt / 44 East 78th Street. / Dentist Dr. Fulton / Dr. Fournier’s Associate. / at 3. 66 E. 58th” [MTP TS 37].
James Bertram, personal secretary for Andrew Carnegie wrote from N.Y.C. to Sam, advising that “In the course of a few weeks a cask will be delivered to you which Mr. Carnegie says you will please not hesitate to receive….” On or about this day Sam replied:
James Bertram, personal secretary for Andrew Carnegie wrote from N.Y.C. to Sam, advising that “In the course of a few weeks a cask will be delivered to you which Mr. Carnegie says you will please not hesitate to receive….” On or about this day Sam replied:
December 20 Wednesday – Isabel Lyon’s journal:
December 21 Thursday – Mark Twain was the guest of honor at the Aldine Association dinner given by the Society of Illustrators. The New York Times, Dec. 22, p. 9 reported on the event:
JOAN OF ARC APPEARS TO STARTLE MARK TWAIN
Surprise Prepared for Him by Society of Illustrators.
THEIR GUEST AT DINNER
December 22 Friday – In N.Y.C. Isabel V. Lyon replied for Sam to Robert K. Mackey’s Dec. 20 request for an autograph on a newspaper speech. “Cut out the speech and send it, not the entire newspaper” [MTP].
Mrs. Abigail M. Roach wrote to Sam [MTP]. On or just after this date Sam sent her the form letter for the occasion of his 70th, adding a short paragraph:
December 23 Saturday – In N.Y.C. Isabel V. Lyon replied for Sam to Robert K. Mackey. “M . Clemens wishes me to thank you for your kind wishes and he directs me to return herewith the autographed speech. May I also express my thanks for your kind message to me” [MTP].
December 24 Sunday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Sam wrote to William Robertson Coe (1869-
1955), son-in-law to H.H. Rogers.
I have sampled the Cabañas, & they are fit for the Gods (who will not get a dam one of them.) May you live long & continue to prosper; & Mrs. Coe the same.
I have sampled the Cabañas, & they are fit for the Gods (who will not get a dam one of them.) May you live long & continue to prosper; & Mrs. Coe the same.
December 25, 1905 Monday Christmas
December 25 Monday Christmas – On or about this day Sam also sent another Dec. 6 form letter for the occasion of his 70 to Josephine P. Peabody, adding Happy New Year and Merry Christmas sentiment [MTP].
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.
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: