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Camden NJ
US America
April 19 '891
Am still anchor'd here in my second story in Mickle street—not much different,
yet every month letting the pegs lower—Have not sent the big books (complete
ed'n)2 but shall soon.
—Fondest love to little Rachel3 & the newcomer
too—I rec'd the good letter f'm y'r dear father4 also Mrs
S's card5—Is his address still at 44?
—I am preparing a new ed'n of L of G. & shall send you one.
Walt Whitman
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Correspondent:
Mary Whitall Smith Costelloe
(1864–1945) was a political activist, art historian, and critic, whom
Whitman once called his "staunchest living woman friend." A scholar of Italian
Renaissance art and a daughter of Robert Pearsall Smith, she would in 1885 marry
B. F. C. "Frank" Costelloe. She had been in contact with many of Whitman's
English friends and would travel to Britain in 1885 to visit many of them,
including Anne Gilchrist shortly before her death. For more, see Christina
Davey, "Costelloe, Mary Whitall Smith (1864–1945)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D.
Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. This postal card is
addressed: Mrs: Mary Whitall Costelloe | 40 Grosvenor Road | the Embankment |
London England. It is postmarked: Camden [illegible] | April 19 | 8 PM; Philadelphia, PA. | Apr 20 | 4 PM |
Paid. [back]
- 2. 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]
- 3. Rachel Pearsall Conn Costelloe
(1887–1940), known as Ray Strachey, was the first daughter of Mary Whitall
Smith Costelloe. She would later become a feminist writer and politician. [back]
- 4. Robert Pearsall Smith
(1827–1898) was a Quaker who became an evangelical minister associated
with the "Holiness movement." He was also a writer and businessman. Whitman
often stayed at his Philadelphia home, where the poet became friendly with the
Smith children—Mary, Logan, and Alys. For more information about Smith,
see Christina Davey, "Smith, Robert Pearsall (1827–1898)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 5. Writing on March 31, 1889, Robert Pearsall Smith informed
Whitman of events in the family: Alys was to attend Bryn Mawr College in the
fall, Logan was studying at Oxford, and Mary had a second child. Robert's wife
Hannah wrote on March 13 to Whitman about her
granddaughter's birth (see also Smith Alumnae Quarterly
[February, 1958], p. 88). Hannah was no admirer of the poet, and Whitman once
said of her: "She still believes that the world is to be persuaded, driven into
salvation. I do not—never did!" (Horace Traubel, With
Walt Whitman in Camden, Friday, April 19, 1889). [back]