Vol 3 Section 0735
of profit in it. Not a thousand persons care anything about the study. The only compensation is that I found out what nobody else could, and that my name will always be associated with the unraveling of the Maya glyphs, as Champollion’s is with the Egyptian. But that is poor pay for what will be twenty years’ hard work” [MTP; Gribben 267]. Note: Sam was fascinated with the book and praised it in a reply to Joe on June 13. See entry. The newly published AMT 1: contains a paragraph of summary information about Goodman and his work on the Mayan codes:
At the urging of prominent archaeologist Alfred P. Maudslay (1850-1931), Goodman traveled to London in 1895. There in 1897 he published his findings as The Archaic Maya Inscriptions, a book-length work that Maudslay later made the appendix to his own multivolume Archaeology. In 1898 Goodman published a monograph, The Maya Graphic System: Reasons for Believing It to be Nothing but a Cipher Code, and in 1905 he published an article, “Maya Dates” ….Modern scholarship has validated
Goodman’s confidence in his discoveries. Michael D. Coe, in Breaking the Maya Code, noted that Goodman “made some truly lasting contributions,” among them “calendrical tables…still in use among scholars working out Maya dates” and his “amazing achievement” in proposing “a correlation between the Maya Long Count calendar and our own” (Coe 1999, 112, 114). Jean François Champollion (1790-1832), considered the father of Egyptology, was the first to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics [546].
May 25 Sunday – Sam read the last half of George Iles’ 1900 book, Flame, Electricity and the Camera
[May 26 to Iles].
Nathaniel Pasternak wrote from N.Y.C. to Sam, that he would “be on hand any time you call me up. The boys were disappointed—badly—on receipt of that previous letter and are now reassured. Membership has now swelled to about fifty—you can guess the reason—and no more are admitted for the present. We hope your trip turns out to be a very successful and agreeable one” [MTP].
May 26 Monday – In Riverdale, N.Y. Sam wrote to George Iles. “Yesterday I read the last half of your book on flame, electricity & the camera again. And I thank you again. It is an enchanting book, & the style & phrasing are worthy of the great subjects. I am leaving for the West, to return the middle of June; but I am leaving the ancient hymn-books behind, in a safe place” [MTP].
Sam also wrote to H.H. Rogers that he was leaving the next day for Missouri to receive his honorary LL.D. degree from the University of Missouri: “Take care of business the best you can, and telegraph me if you get stuck” [MTHHR 488].
Livy’s diary: “Mrs Gotthold & Miss Bisland here for luncheon” [MTP: DV161]. Note: Miss Mary Bisland.
an unidentified person: (“a thankful reader”) wrote from Wolcott, Vt. to Sam, complimenting him on
his article on General Funston [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env. “Pleasant letter requires no ans.”
May 27 Tuesday – Sam left N.Y.C. on the N.Y. Central RR at 9:20 p.m. headed for St. Louis [May 23 to
James R. Clemens]. Note: according to his June 10 to James, it was a 30 hour trip from N.Y.C. to St. Louis, putting him in St. Louis at about 7:30 the morning of May 29. His NB entry gives 9.45 p.m. as departure time, with fare of $24.25 and a room $22; paid $46.25 [NB 45 TS 14].
Livy’s diary: “Sue [Crane] came in the evening: Mr Clemens went to Columbia, Missouri to receive a degree
from the University of Missouri” [MTP: DV161].
May 28 Wednesday – Sam was on the train en route to St. Louis, sleeping well the second night [May 23 to James R. Clemens].
SLC used mourning border for most letters from Susy’s death on, then from Livy’s death on.