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Camden
Feb: 22 '891
Y'r welcome letter rec'd this mn'g2—I am still here in good heart enough but
almost entirely physically disabled—tied here to room & chair—The
news from O'C3 is not better—eyes given out, stomach, strength, bladder &c,
in bad way,—I expect Dr B4 to leave Canada next Monday for here—will send
you a copy of the big book5 by express to West Park next week (or early in
March)—
Best love to you & 'Sula6 & Julian7
Walt Whitman
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Correspondent:
The naturalist John Burroughs
(1837–1921) met Whitman on the streets of Washington, D.C., in 1864. After
returning to Brooklyn in 1864, Whitman commenced what was to become a decades-long
correspondence with Burroughs. Burroughs was magnetically drawn to Whitman.
However, the correspondence between the two men is, as Burroughs acknowledged,
curiously "matter-of-fact." Burroughs would write several books involving or
devoted to Whitman's work: Notes on Walt Whitman, as Poet and
Person (1867), Birds and Poets (1877), Whitman, A Study (1896), and Accepting
the Universe (1924). For more on Whitman's relationship with Burroughs,
see Carmine Sarracino, "Burroughs, John [1837–1921] and Ursula [1836–1917]," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. This postal card is
addressed: John Burroughs | 314 Mill Street | Po'Keepsie New York. It is
postmarked: Poughkeepsie, NY | Feb 23 | (?)AM | 1889; Camden, N.J. | Feb 22 |
(?)PM | 89. [back]
- 2. Whitman is referring to the
February 21, 1889, letter from
Burroughs. [back]
- 3. William Douglas O'Connor
(1832–1889) was the author of the grand and grandiloquent Whitman pamphlet
The Good Gray Poet: A Vindication, published in 1866.
For more on Whitman's relationship with O'Connor, see Deshae E. Lott, "O'Connor, William Douglas (1832–1889)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 4. Richard Maurice Bucke (1837–1902) was a
Canadian physician and psychiatrist who grew close to Whitman after reading Leaves of Grass in 1867 (and later memorizing it) and
meeting the poet in Camden a decade later. Even before meeting Whitman, Bucke
claimed in 1872 that a reading of Leaves of Grass led him
to experience "cosmic consciousness" and an overwhelming sense of epiphany.
Bucke became the poet's first biographer with Walt
Whitman (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1883), and he later served as one
of his medical advisors and literary executors. For more on the relationship of
Bucke and Whitman, see Howard Nelson, "Bucke, Richard Maurice," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 5. Whitman's Complete Poems & Prose (1888), a volume Whitman often referred to
as the "big book," was published by the poet himself—in an arrangement
with publisher David McKay, who allowed Whitman to use the plates for both Leaves of Grass and Specimen
Days—in December 1888. With the help of Horace Traubel, Whitman made
the presswork and binding decisions for the volume. Frederick Oldach bound the
book, which included a profile photo of the poet on the title page. For more
information on the book, see Ed Folsom, Whitman Making Books/Books Making Whitman: A Catalog and
Commentary (University of Iowa: Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, 2005). [back]
- 6. Ursula North Burroughs
(1836–1917) was John Burroughs's wife. Ursula and John were married on
September 12, 1857. The couple maintained a small farm overlooking the Hudson
River in West Park, Ulster County. They adopted a son, Julian, at two months of
age. It was only later revealed that John himself was the biological father of
Julian. [back]
- 7. Julian Burroughs
(1878–1954), the only son of John and Ursula Burroughs, later became a
landscape painter, writer, and photographer. [back]