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Walt Whitman to Susan Stafford, 30 January [1881]

About This Item

  • Title: Walt Whitman to Susan Stafford, 30 January [1881]
  • Date: January 30, 1881
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.04045
  • Source: The Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Transcribed from digital images or a microfilm reproduction of the original item. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.

    Notes for this letter were created by Whitman Archive staff and/or were derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller, 6 vols. (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), and supplemented or updated by Whitman Archive staff.
  • Contributors to digital file: Alicia Bones Nima Najafi Kianfar Stefan Schoeberlein Nicole Gray
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to Susan Stafford, 30 January [1881]." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 04 December 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.04045.xml (TEI)
 loc_jc.00495_large.jpg Camden Sunday afternoon Jan: 30—1 My dear friend,

I rec'd your good letter some days since, & would like indeed to be down with you & George & all—but the bitter cold continues so I think I'd better stay close here for the present—but it won't be long before I shall be with you all—I suppose you & the rest are reading Herbert's books from time to time—though they are very queer in the story of Blake's life and works, there is a deal that is interesting & good to chew on—then they are such beautiful specimens of paper & printing, it is a pleasure to read them2

 loc_jc.00496_large.jpg

I had a nice visit from Harry and Mont—there is nothing new or interesting to write you—it is now ½ past 2, after dinner, & I have been writing & fixing up a composition alone in my room, since breakfast—it is a cloudy, cold raw day here, rather lonesome, but still I make out—(but I could make out better if I have the rest of the day on a visit to Glendale, & a good strong cup of tea with you & Ruth, to cheer me up)—I am still feeling pretty well so far this winter, bless the Lord—I send Debbie a book "the Old Curiosity Shop"—love to her and Joe—have you had any more hog-killings—which is the most fun? them or the Glendale church?

W W

Notes

  • 1. On January 30 Whitman sent this letter to Susan Stafford as well as a "'wrestling' slip to Harry" and Old Curiosity Shop to Deborah Browning (Whitman's Commonplace Book, Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). [back]
  • 2. Presumably the new and enlarged two-volume edition, Life of William Blake, with Selections (1880), containing the memoir of Herbert's father, Alexander Gilchrist. [back]
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