Life & Letters

Correspondence

About this Item

Title: Dr. F. B. Gillette to Walt Whitman, 23 December 1867

Date: December 23, 1867

Whitman Archive ID: loc.02116

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 notes: The annotation, "from Dr. Gillette on "Democracy"—no answer," is in the hand of Walt Whitman. The annotation, "see notes Jan 5 1889," is in the hand of Horace Traubel.

Contributors to digital file: Alex Kinnaman, Elizabeth Lorang, Kathryn Kruger, Ashley Lawson, John Schwaninger, Caterina Bernardini, Cristin Noonan, Marie Ernster, Paige Wilkinson, Amanda J. Axley, and Stephanie Blalock



page image
image 1
page image
image 2
page image
image 3
page image
image 4


Post Hospital
Natchez, Miss
Dec 23d, 18671

Walt Whitman;
Dear Sir,

I write this, to let you know, how glad I am Walt Whitman was born; and that he writes—Oh! that there were more of the same sort, our country needs them. I hope some day to grasp your hand, and hear you speak.

"Democracy"2 made me yell with delight; it put things into shape that I ran all in a heap before.

Go on, and may God bless you and your efforts, as a true American.

Respectfully
F. B. Gillette
acting [illegible] in chg—


Correspondent:
Dr. F. B. Gillette was the acting assistant surgeon at Port Hospital in Natchez, Mississippi.

Notes:

1. This letter is addressed: Walt Whitman.  [back]

2. Whitman's essay "Democracy" was first publishied in The Galaxy 4 (December 1867), 919–933. It was later incorporated into Democratic Vistas (New York: J. S. Redfield, 1871). [back]


Comments?

Published Works | In Whitman's Hand | Life & Letters | Commentary | Resources | Pictures & Sound

Support the Archive | About the Archive

Distributed under a Creative Commons License. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price, editors.