I shall try and come to New Haven, very soon—though but for perhaps two or three hours. For some days past my mother has been ill—some of the time very ill—and I have been nurse & doctor too, as none of my sisters are home at present—But to-day she seems over it, if the favorable symptoms continue.1
I have procured the portrait & frame without any trouble,2 & they are now hanging up in mother's front room—& are the delight & ever-increasing gratification of my folks & friends, young & old—some of whom sit by the half hour & just look steadily at it in silence—It is indeed a noble piece of work-manship—age has already improved it, & will still more—both painting & frame were unharmed—Mr. Blondell, 806 Broadway, had the painting, & has others of yours.3
Dear Charley, I cannot fix the day, but I will indeed try to come forthwith. I too wish to be with you once more—though it will be but so briefly4—
Much love to you, my dear friend,—not forgetting your wife & children.
Walt WhitmanCorrespondent:
Charles Hine
(1827–1871) was the painter who created the oil painting from which the
engraving that become the frontispiece for the 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass was made. In a letter now lost, Whitman appears to
have received word from Hine that he was very ill. On July 26, Whitman wrote to William D. O'Connor that an "artist friend
of mine is very low there with consumption—is in fact dying."