Vol 3 Section 1137
|
1073 |
Clara will feel about it all, and for Jean I am afraid it will not be good to go into a suburb, because she wants to go to school…as she lacks so for companionship over here and she needs it so much [MTP]. Note: Clara Clemens had gone with her father to America, and at this time she was in Elmira visiting. Sam was in NYC. Added Oct. 28, 2010.
December 19, 1893 addition – The Mrs. Bunner referred to was Alice Learned Bunner (Mrs. Henry Cuyler Bunner) (b. ca.1861). Alice was a contributor to Scribner’s and other magazines; Henry editor of Puck. In Sam’s June 6, 1899 to her he referred again to the silhouette of him she had made.
1894 correction – The speculation about the date Mark Twain met Theodor Herzl has been resolved; the date was Apr. 5, 1894 in Paris, where Herzl was a journalist working for the Viennese paper Neue Freie Presse. The paragraph about Herzl has been added to Apr. 5, 1894 and taken from 1894 [Mark Twain Quarterly 9.1 (Winter 1951): 16-20: “Mark Twain in Paris”].
April 5, 1894 addition – At the British Embassy, where he gave a reading for the benefit of British and American schools in Paris, Sam “briefly” met Theodor Herzl (1860 -1904), later known as “the father of Zionism.” Convinced that Jews would never be assimilated and accepted in Europe, Herzl almost singlehandedly promoted forming the state of Israel and worked to organize the movement. Herzl was a journalist for the Neue Freie Presse in Paris reporting on the Dreyfus case. Sam and Theodor would meet up again in 1898 in Vienna [Dolmestch 129; Oren 284; Mark Twain Quarterly 9.1 (Winter 1951): 16-20: “Mark Twain in Paris”]. Note: this date had previously only been conjectured as either Apr. 5 or June 11. The last source listed confirms Apr. 5.
January 15, 1894 addition – At 11.30 a.m. at the Players Club in N.Y.C. Sam wrote to Laurence Hutton. “Dear Hutton: Twichell is here at the Club. Can you be here at 1 p.m. or at latest 1.30 & eat that luncheon?” [MTP undated file]. Note: comparing this note with the first letter to Livy of the same date: “Joe has just arrived (11.30). We can’t go to Brooklyn, for Julia is in bed with asthma, so I have sent a messenger to fetch Hutton here to luncheon.” The two places, times, persons sets the date of this note, which was not mailed but sent by messenger. Thanks to JoDee Benussi for sleuthing this one.
February 25, 1894 addition – At the Players Club in N.Y.C. Sam also wrote to Laurence Hutton, heading it “Sunday night.”
Dear Hutton: / In the meantime I have engaged to read with Riley to-morrow evening. Therefore I send this ticket to you, for maybe you can use it. Please thank Hoyt for me. With love for Mrs. Hutton…[MTP undated file]. Note: Clemens only gave one reading with James Whitcomb Riley, on Feb. 26 and 27, 1894; Sam was also living at the Players during this time. Hoyt is likely Charles Hale Hoyt, drama critic; see Feb. 17.
February 26 and 27, 1894 – See addenda for Mar. 3, 1894.
March 3, 1894 addition – The function Sam was to read for has been identified. On Feb. 26 and 27 Sam shared the platform with James Whitcomb Riley and Douglass Sherley. Boewe writes:
Sleet and snow and strong winds hit New York City with such force that the Madison Square Garden Concert Hall was sparsely filled on 26 February, the first night of the advertised Twain -Riley performance. The New York Times reviewer, referring to a Twain who “loitered through several of his back numbers,” gave grudging approval, noting that the audience “was convulsed with determined merriment.” Riley, as usual, was praised for his skill, but Sherley got scant mention. After the Tuesday 27 February performance, to compensate for the bad weather, a third engagement was added, netting Mark Twain another $250 when he appeared with the duo at Chickering Hall on Saturday evening, 3 March.