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Walt Whitman to James R. Osgood, 1 June 1881

About This Item

  • Title: Walt Whitman to James R. Osgood, 1 June 1881
  • Date: June 1, 1881
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: tex.00420
  • Source: T. E. Hanley 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), 227–228. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Contributors to digital file: Stefan Schoeberlein Nima Najafi Kianfar Eder Jaramillo Nicole Gray
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to James R. Osgood, 1 June 1881." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 04 December 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: tex.00420.xml (TEI)
431 Stevens Street Camden New Jersey June 1 '81 My dear Mr Osgood

Yours of May 31 just rec'd—Thanking you warmly for willingness, promptness, &c. my terms are:

25 cts on every copy sold if the retail price is put at $2

30 cts on every copy sold if the retail price is put at $2.501

If these suit you the bargain is settled—you shall be fully fortified as sole publisher with all legal authority—& you can act accordingly in England—If they do not suit no harm done—the thing is off—but with perfect good feeling left on both sides.

Walt Whitman

Notes

  • 1. This was Whitman's counterproposal to Osgood's offer of ten per cent. The publisher accepted Whitman's terms on June 3. [back]
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