At last I have heard from Houghton, Mifflin & Co.,2 & they propose to print "The Brazen Android"3 in the Atlantic Monthly for next April & May, as it is too long for one number; & then to issue the volume next fall, as they say it is a Christmas book really, three (3) of the stories being distinctly x mas stories.
That is a first rate plan, as the story will make the way loc.03005.002_large.jpg for the volume. I got the letter the last day of the year, & felt that it was the best New Year's gift that I could have had. I am very closely confined to the office, & get no days nor hours off; but think of you; & hope that you are happy. I wish you a happy new year, & with love always
Your friend Nelly O'Conner.I mean to write to Dr. Bucke4 as soon as I can & tell him the good news.
Correspondent:
Ellen M. "Nelly" O'Connor (1830–1913) was the
wife of William D. O'Connor (1832–1889), one of Whitman's staunchest
defenders. Before marrying William, Ellen Tarr was active in the antislavery and
women's rights movements as a contributor to the Liberator and to a women's rights newspaper Una. Whitman dined with the O'Connors frequently during his Washington
years. Though Whitman and William O'Connor would temporarily break off their
friendship in late 1872 over Reconstruction policies with regard to emancipated
African Americans, Ellen would remain friendly with Whitman. The correspondence
between Whitman and Ellen is almost as voluminous as the poet's correspondence
with William. Three years after William O'Connor's death, Ellen married the
Providence businessman Albert Calder. For more on Whitman's relationship with the O'Connors, see Dashae
E. Lott, "O'Connor, William Douglas [1832–1889]" and Lott's "O'Connor (Calder),
Ellen ('Nelly') M. Tarr (1830–1913)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).