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Walt Whitman to the Editor of the New York Herald, [14(?) December 1887]

I send the lines on Whittier—wh' I suppose are to be printed in paper of Dec. 181—The price is $20, which please send me here by p.o. order—

Walt Whitman

Correspondent:
Walt Whitman's greeting to Whittier ("As the Greek's Signal Flame") appeared in the New York Herald on December 15 and in Munyon's Illustrated World in January 1888. Whitman received $10 from the latter (Whitman's Commonplace Book; Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). Whittier wrote to Whitman on January 13, 1888 to thank him for the greeting.


Notes

  • 1. On December 11, 1887, Julius Chambers of the New York Herald asked Walt Whitman to write a poem to commemorate John Greenleaf Whittier's eightieth birthday. The poet replied on December 12, and on December 14 (Whitman's Commonplace Book; Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.) sent "As the Greek's Signal Flame [For Whittier's eightieth birthday, December 17, 1887]," which was printed in the Herald on the following day. Although Whitman asked twenty dollars, he was paid twenty-five (Whitman's Commomplace Book). [back]
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