Walt Whitman to Richard W. Colles, 24 August 1886

About This Item

Title: Walt Whitman to Richard W. Colles, 24 August 1886
Date: August 24, 1886
Creator(s): Walt Whitman
Whitman Archive ID: loc.01302
Source: The Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 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: Stefan Schöberlein Kyle Barton
Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to Richard W. Colles, 24 August 1886." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 09 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
Source File: loc.01302.xml (TEI)

loc.01302.002_large.jpg

loc.01302.001_large.jpg 328 Mickle Street Camden New Jersey U S America1 Aug 24, '86—

Yours of Aug. 8 rec'd—I send (same mail with this, same address) a copy of John Burroughs's book— & can send another. "Leaves of Grass," author's special ed'n—& "Specimen Days" would be £1—s2 (one pound, two shillings [—] the two Vols.)—Sent best by post office order to me here.2 Before you decide to reprint J B's little book write me—there are several things I sh'd like to post you up on—

Walt Whitman

Correspondent:
Richard W. Colles was probably one of the many students of Edward Dowden who became fervid admirers of Whitman. For more, see Philip W. Leon, "Dowden, Edward (1843–1913)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).

Notes

1. This postal card is addressed: Rich'd W Colles | 122 Tritonville Road | Sandymount | Dublin Ireland. It is postmarked: CAMDEN | AUG | 24 | 12 M | 1886 | N.J.; PHILADELPHIA | AUG | 24 | 1886 | [illegible]; DUBLIN | 4 | SE 3 | 86. [back]
2. On September 18 the poet sent the two books, and on October 18 he forwarded copies of Anne Gilchrist's essays (Whitman's Commonplace Book, Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). See also the letter from Whitman to Richard W. Colles of November 18, 1886. [back]