Friday noon, Jan 17.1
Dearest mother2,
Nothing new or particular3—I send you an "Appleton's
Journal," with some good reading in it4—Well, mother, how
are you all? Last night was a heavy rain here—I thought of your roof—the snow
has all disappeared here—very pleasant yesterday indeed here—to-day the whole
city looks all washed clean—
I went to a concert Tuesday night—very good—I heard a singer, Mario5, I heard 30 years ago—an old man, now—yet he sings first-rate
yet—then Patti6, a lady—& others. It was in quite a fine hall here called
Lincoln Hall7—I go there once in a while—(an editor
of a newspaper here sends me spare tickets some times—that's how I go, most of the
time.)
I have got a letter from John Burroughs8—he is at
Middletown, N. Y.—don't expect to return here permanently to live any more—but
will return to pack up & move—his wife is still here—I was up there a couple
of evenings since—Mrs. B. is alone—has lately been vaccinated, & is not very
well—there has been a good deal of small pox here—all the clerks in the office
have been vaccinated—Well, mamma dear, I believe I have scribbled down all the small talk I
can think of to amuse you for this time—Love to you, mother dear,
Walt.
Notes
- 1. The executors dated this letter
1868. [back]
- 2. Louisa Van Velsor Whitman (1795–1873) married
Walter Whitman, Sr., in 1816; together they had nine children, of whom Walt was
the second. The close relationship between Louisa and her son Walt contributed
to his liberal view of gender representation and his sense of comradeship. For
more information on Louisa Van Velsor Whitman, see Sherry Ceniza, "Whitman, Louisa Van Velsor (1795–1873)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. Walt Whitman had made a New Year's visit
to Camden, according to Hannah Heyde's letter to her mother on January
7–10, 1873 (Library of Congress); see also Louisa Van Velsor Whitman's
letter to Helen Price on January 6(?), 1873 (Pierpont Morgan Library). [back]
- 4. The issue of January 18, 1873 (9 1873,
106–108) contained Burroughs's "A Glimpse of France." [back]
- 5. A farewell concert for Giuseppe Mario
(1810–1883), "The World-renowned Tenor," and Carlotta Patti (1835?–1889),
"The Queen of the Concert Room," was presented at Lincoln Hall on January 14,
1873. The review in the Daily Morning Chronicle the next
day gave greater praise to a young contralto, Annie Louise Cary, than to Patti
or Mario, the latter of whom sang with "great effort." Walt Whitman referred to
Mario frequently in his prose writings (The Complete Writings
of Walt Whitman [New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1902], 10 vols., IV, 26;
VI, 186; VII, 56). [back]
- 6. A farewell concert for Carlotta Patti (1835?–1889),
"The Queen of the Concert Room," and Giuseppe Mario (1810–1883), "The
World-renowned Tenor," was presented at Lincoln Hall on January 14, 1873. The
review in the Daily Morning Chronicle the next day gave
greater praise to a young contralto, Annie Louise Cary, than to Patti or
Mario. [back]
- 7. A farewell concert for Giuseppe Mario
(1810–1883), "The World-renowned Tenor," and Carlotta Patti
(1835?–1889), "The Queen of the Concert Room," was presented at Lincoln
Hall on January 14, 1873. The review in the Daily Morning
Chronicle the next day gave greater praise to a young contralto, Annie
Louise Cary, than to Patti or Mario, the latter of whom sang with "great
effort." Walt Whitman referred to Mario frequently in his prose writings (The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman [New York: G. P.
Putnam's Sons, 1902], 4:26; 6:186; 7:56). [back]
- 8. On January 12,
1873, Burroughs wrote: "It cost me a pang to leave W[ashington]. I was
so warm & snug & my nest was so well feathered; but I have really cut
loose & do not expect to return again except briefly. I can make more money
here, be much freer, be nearer home & have a new field of duties." Burroughs
became a bank inspector in New York State. [back]