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Thomas Donaldson to Walt Whitman, 20 June 1890

About This Item

  • Title: Thomas Donaldson to Walt Whitman, 20 June 1890
  • Date: June 20, 1890
  • Creator(s): Thomas Donaldson
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.01483
  • 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.
  • Contributors to digital file: Ian Faith Ryan Furlong Blake Bronson-Bartlett Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Donaldson, Thomas. "Thomas Donaldson to Walt Whitman, 20 June 1890." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 25 April 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.01483.xml (TEI)
 loc.01483.001_large.jpg No 326. N. 39 Street. Phil Pa. June 20 1890 Dear Walt Whitman.

How good of you to think of me and send me1 what I most appreciate; Thank you—I am much in Washington.

Is there anything we can do for your comfort; All well and send love. What a Royal Bob Ingersoll2 is—

As to that Poem!—no doubt the Queen and the Prince—saved the North from the peril of Southern recognition by England.—So it was patriotic in you to mention it.

Always yours Tom Donaldson  loc.01483.002_large.jpg

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 is referring to Whitman's letter of June 17, 1890. Whitman sent a copy of his poem "For Queen Victoria's Birthday" with the letter. [back]
  • 2. Robert "Bob" Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) was a Civil War veteran and an orator of the post-Civil War era, known for his support of agnosticism. Ingersoll was a friend of Whitman, who considered Ingersoll the greatest orator of his time. Whitman said to Horace Traubel, "It should not be surprising that I am drawn to Ingersoll, for he is Leaves of Grass. He lives, embodies, the individuality I preach. I see in Bob the noblest specimen—American-flavored—pure out of the soil, spreading, giving, demanding light" (Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Wednesday, March 25, 1891). The feeling was mutual. Upon Whitman's death in 1892, Ingersoll delivered the eulogy at the poet's funeral. The eulogy was published to great acclaim and is considered a classic panegyric (see Phyllis Theroux, The Book of Eulogies [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997], 30). [back]
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