Walt Whitman to Edward Carpenter, 23 April 1876

About This Item

Title: Walt Whitman to Edward Carpenter, 23 April 1876
Date: April 23, 1876
Creator(s): Walt Whitman
Whitman Archive ID: tex.00345
Source: The Walt Whitman Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), 41. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to Edward Carpenter, 23 April 1876." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 27 December 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
Source File: tex.00345.xml (TEI)

431 Stevens St
Camden N Jersey
U S America April 23 '761 Dear Sir2

I have rec'd the P.O. money order, & the money (£4—$21.97) has been paid me—for which accept warmest thanks.—No letter has yet reached me, specifying an order for my books, new edition—but if one does not come in a few days, I believe I will send the Two Vols. to same address as this note—As, I take it, that will be agreeable to you.

I am middling comfortable these times—Again thanks—

Walt Whitman

Notes

1. This letter's envelope bears the address, "Edward Carpenter | 3 Wesley Terrace | Shaw Lane | Headingly | Leeds, England." It is postmarked: "Camden | Apr | 23 | N.J.; Leeds | 162 | 10 My | 76." [back]
2. Like many other young disillusioned Englishmen, Carpenter (1844–1929) deemed Walt Whitman a prophetic spokesman of an ideal state cemented in the bonds of brotherhood. On July 12, 1874, he wrote for the first time to Walt Whitman: "Because you have, as it were, given me a ground for the love of men I thank you continually in my heart . . . . For you have made men to be not ashamed of the noblest instinct of their nature." On January 3, 1876, Carpenter sent another impassioned letter. On April 8, 1876, he sent £4 for the 1876 volumes. See also Whitman's May 1, 1877 letter to Anne Gilchrist. [back]