We have had (glum & dark yet) a severe storm & blow & destruction hereabout but I believe I am as serene as ever & getting on comfortably—had a present of some plump sweet partridges2—& half one for my breakfast—went well—I suppose you rec'd the Critic3 and American sent last night—I believe the books,4 printing &c. are going to eventuate satisfactorily from my point of view & plans—no cyclone of success—but no special mishap—wh' is a great victory considering my wreck'd bodily condition—
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).