loc.01064.001_large.jpg
OFFICE OF THE
NEW YORK CITIZEN,
32 BEEKMAN STREET, N. Y.
Terms of the Paper,
$5.00 PER YEAR.
10 CENTS PER COPY.
August 9 18671
Friend Whitman,
I publish in tomorrow's Citizen, Rosetti's 2 article3 from the
Chronicle. I congratulate you on the article.4 It will
wake people up.
I wish you could send me a copy of your book—a thing which I don't possess. I
will mail you a copy of tomorrow's paper.
Very respectfully yours
W. L. Alden
(Associate Editor)
loc.01064.002_large.jpg
loc_tb.00391.jpg
Mr. Alden.
N.Y. Citizen
Aug. 9 '67.
ans.
see notes Dec 7 1888
loc_tb.00392.jpg
Correspondent:
William Livingston Alden
(1837–1908) was an editorial writer for and associate editor of the New
York Citizen. He studied law in the office of William M.
Evarts, who served as the 29th United States Attorney General. Alden practiced
law for five years and then wrote for a number of magazines, including Scribner's and the Atlantic,
before writing for New York City newspapers, among them the World, Graphic, and the Times. Alden served as U.S. consul-general in Rome between 1885 and
1890, and then lived in Paris until 1893, where he wrote for the Paris edition
of the New York Herald. He later moved to London.
Notes
- 1. This letter is addressed:
Walt Whitman | Washington, | D.C. It is postmarked: NEW-YORK | AUG | 9; CARRIER
| AUG | 10 | 1867. [back]
- 2. William Michael Rossetti (1829–1915), brother
of Dante Gabriel and Christina Rossetti, was an English editor and a champion of
Whitman's work. In 1868, Rossetti edited Whitman's Poems,
selected from the 1867 Leaves of Grass. Whitman referred
to Rossetti's edition as a "horrible dismemberment of my book" in his August 12, 1871, letter to Frederick S. Ellis. Nonetheless,
the edition provided a major boost to Whitman's reputation, and Rossetti would
remain a staunch supporter for the rest of Whitman's life, drawing in
subscribers to the 1876 Leaves of Grass and fundraising
for Whitman in England. For more on Whitman's relationship with Rossetti, see
Sherwood Smith, "Rossetti, William Michael (1829–1915)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. No copies of the Citizen prior to 1869 have survived, but Whitman appears to have read
and enjoyed the article. [back]
- 4. The writer of the Citzen article was likely Charles G. Halpine. Whitman
alluded to this fact in his August 10, 1867, letter
to William Livingston Alden when he noted to the sender "Accept—for
yourself, the Citizen, & Gen. Halpine." Charles G.
Halpine (1829–1868) was a journalist, soldier, and politician. He joined
the 69th New York Regiment at the outbreak of the war and was brevetted
brigadier general for gallantry. Known as a humorist and author, under the
pseudonym Pvt. Miles O'Reilley, Halpine was also a well-known journalist who
wrote for the New York Herald, and later became editor of
The Leader. It would appear that, in 1867, Halpine
was writing for the Citizen. [back]