Walt Whitman to The Editors of the Critic and Elizabeth Porter Gould, 30 May 1887

About This Item

Title: Walt Whitman to The Editors of the Critic and Elizabeth Porter Gould, 30 May 1887
Date: May 30, 1887
Creator(s): Walt Whitman
Whitman Archive ID: bpl.00032
Source: The Walt Whitman Collection, Boston Public Library. Transcribed from digital images or a microfilm reproduction of the original item. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.

Notes for this letter were created by Whitman Archive staff and/or were derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller, 6 vols. (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), and supplemented or updated by Whitman Archive staff.
Contributors to digital file: Alex Ashland Stefan Schöberlein Kevin McMullen Stephanie Blalock
Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to The Editors of the Critic and Elizabeth Porter Gould, 30 May 1887." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 09 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
Source File: bpl.00032.xml (TEI)

bpl.00032.001_large.jpg 328 Mickle Street Camden New Jersey May 30 '87

I wish to warmly thank Elizabeth Porter Gould1 and yourselves for the article ab't myself & the war hospitals2—Nothing I have received has touch'd me deeper or been more comforting & agreeable to me.

If convenient I sh'd like to have you send this note to E P G. with my thanks and regards—

Walt Whitman

Correspondent:
The editor of the Critic from 1881 to 1906 was Jeannette Leonard Gilder (1849–1916), who wrote that "one of the things of which I am most proud is that the Critic was the first publication of its class to invite Walt Whitman to contribute to its pages" (Charles N. Elliot, Walt Whitman as Man, Poet, and Friend [Boston: Richard G. Badger, The Gorham Press, 1915], 97). She was assisted in her editorial work by her brother Joseph Benson Gilder (1858–1936). For more information, see Susan L. Roberson, "Gilder, Jeannette L. (1849–1916)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).

Notes

1. Elizabeth Porter Gould (1848–1906) was a Massachusetts writer and reformer who edited the collection Gems from Walt Whitman (1889), a selection of poems from Leaves of Grass that she condensed to create short poetic "gems." [back]
2. The Critic on May 28 printed Gould's article "Walt Whitman Among the Soldiers," and on June 1 sent her a check for $8 along with Whitman's letter (Boston Public Library). For Whitman's opinion of Elizabeth Porter Gould, see With Walt Whitman in Camden, Saturday, March 16, 1889. [back]