The Walt Whitman Archive
Life & Letters
Correspondence
About this Item
Title: Walt Whitman to Thomas Donaldson, 14 August 1888
Date: August 14, 1888
Whitman Archive ID: loc.01479
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.
Editorial note: The annotation, "Written Aug 11/88 T.D. by Walt Whitman," is in an unknown hand.
Contributors to digital file: Kirby Little, Stefan Schöberlein, Ian Faith, Caterina Bernardini, Ashlyn Stewart, and Stephanie Blalock
 image 1 |  image 2 |
Camden
Tuesday Evng. Aug: 14—'88
Dear TD—
Am here yet in the sick room—the Doctor thinks it best not to go yet—have had no set back—but remain horribly weak in legs & body—(sometimes wonder whether that would remain for settled)—Thanks for the Catlin1—it is an inexhaustable mine
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
Thomas Donaldson
(1843–1898) was a lawyer from Philadelphia and a friend of Whitman. He
introduced Whitman to Bram Stoker and later accompanied Stoker when he visited
the poet; he also organized a fund-raising drive to buy Whitman a horse and
carriage. He authored a biography of Whitman titled Walt
Whitman, the Man (1896). For more information about Donaldson, see
Steven Schroeder, "Donaldson, Thomas (1843–1898)," Walt Whitman:
An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes:
1. Donaldson's letter to Whitman does not seem to be extant, but this appears to be a reference to a book by George Catlin (1796–1872), an artist who focused on portraying Native Americans in the Old West. Whitman famously kept a portrait of Osceola by Catlin on his wall. [back]