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Walt Whitman to Anne Gilchrist, 2 July [1877]

A beautiful day, & we are enjoying it—H[erbert] is painting2—I am well, for me—We expect to come up Friday—(possibly I not till Saturday)—

WW

Notes

  • 1. This letter bears the address: Mrs Gilchrist | 1929 north 22d Street | Philadelphia. It is postmarked: Kirkw[ood] | Jul | 3(?) | (?). [back]
  • 2. Herbert Gilchrist spent part of July painting at Kirkwood (The Commonplace Book, Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). Also, see the letter from Whitman to Herbert Gilchrist of July 22, 1877. In a news article in the Camden Daily Post on August 2, which quoted from the Washington Star, Whitman, who was obviously the anonymous author, referred to Herbert's portrait of himself: "The painting, which is now well advanced, and promises to be an excellent likeness, represents Mr. Whitman sitting in an easy chair under a favorite tree." Whitman expected to return to Camden on Friday, July 6, as noted in his letter to John Burroughs of June 22, 1877. [back]
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