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Walt Whitman to Sylvester Baxter, 11 June 1885

Received from Sylvester Baxter (Outing magazine Boston) Twelve Dollars for piece2

Walt Whitman

Correspondent:
Sylvester Baxter (1850–1927) was on the staff of the Boston Herald. Apparently he met Whitman for the first time when the poet delivered his Lincoln address in Boston in April, 1881; see Rufus A. Coleman, "Whitman and Trowbridge," PMLA 63 (1948), 268. Baxter wrote many newspaper columns in praise of Whitman's writings, and in 1886 attempted to obtain a pension for the poet. For more, see Christopher O. Griffin, "Baxter, Sylvester [1850–1927]," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).


Notes

  • 1. This letter is addressed: Sylvester Baxter | Outing Office | 175 Tremont St: | Boston Mass:. It is postmarked: Philadelphia | Pa | Jun 11 85 | 7 30 PM. [back]
  • 2. "The Voice of the Rain" (see the letter from Whitman to Baxter of June 9, 1885). [back]
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