Every thing continues not unfavorable at least—had a fair night & have eaten my mutton-broth & toast with sort o' relish—I hasten to send off Mrs: O Connor's2 letter rec'd an hour ago, in hopes you will get it Saturday, P M—Bright and real cold here—as I sit, the great wolf skin is spread on the chair to protect my back & shoulders—comfortable—
Merry Christmas to you & all
Walt WhitmanCorrespondent:
Richard Maurice Bucke (1837–1902) was a
Canadian physician and psychiatrist who grew close to Whitman after reading Leaves of Grass in 1867 (and later memorizing it) and
meeting the poet in Camden a decade later. Even before meeting Whitman, Bucke
claimed in 1872 that a reading of Leaves of Grass led him
to experience "cosmic consciousness" and an overwhelming sense of epiphany.
Bucke became the poet's first biographer with Walt
Whitman (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1883), and he later served as one
of his medical advisors and literary executors. For more on the relationship of
Bucke and Whitman, see Howard Nelson, "Bucke, Richard Maurice," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998).