The Walt Whitman Archive
Life & Letters
Correspondence
About this Item
Title: Edwin C. Gellett to Walt Whitman, 4 January 1889
Date: January 4, 1889
Whitman Archive ID: loc.02123
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: Andrea Bastien, Caterina Bernardini, Stefan Schöberlein, and Stephanie Blalock
 image 1 |  image 2 |  image 3 |  image 4 |
Germantown, Pa.
Jan. 4, 1889.
Mr. Walt Whitman:
My dear Sir, I take the liberty of sending you in the same mail with this, a little pamphlet1—upon literary work, which I thought might prove interesting to you.
Should it prove so, my object will then be attained.
Believe me with the greatest respect
very sincerely yours
Edwin C. Jellett
Correspondent:
Edwin Costley Jellett
(1860–1929) was a Philadelphia horticulturist, local historian, and
columnist. He was also a member of Philadelphia's literary society "The Mermaid
Club."
Notes:
1. It is unclear exactly which pamphlet Whitman is referring to, but it is likely one of the many Mermaid Club publications that Jellett composed. Among many "curios" the poet showed his disciple Horace Traubel that very month was a "Record of Mermaid Club, Germantowm," which may well be The Record of a Reading Club of 1888, written by Jellett (Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Saturday, January 5, 1889). [back]