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Herbert Gilchrist to Walt Whitman, 18 November 1885

About This Item

  • Title: Herbert Gilchrist to Walt Whitman, 18 November 1885
  • Date: November 18, 1885
  • Creator(s): Herbert Gilchrist
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.02182
  • 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: Alex Kinnaman Stefan Schöberlein Ian Faith Kyle Barton Nicole Gray
  • Cite this page: Gilchrist, Herbert. "Herbert Gilchrist to Walt Whitman, 18 November 1885." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 09 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.02182.xml (TEI)
 loc.02182.001_large.jpg 18.11.85.1 12. Well Road Hampstead London England Nov 19th Dear Walt

I write just a line to tell you how seriously ill mother is. Her condition is critical. Four years ago our dear mother was attacked by cancer in the left breast....Her strength seems daily ebbing and her heart is very weak. Dr Ford Anderson says that she will never recover.2

We have no heart to say more.

Herbert H Gilchrist  loc.02182.002_large.jpg  loc.02182.003_large.jpg  loc.02182.004_large.jpg  loc.02182.005_large.jpg from Herbert Gilchrist (Mrs G is Dying)  loc.02182.006_large.jpg

Correspondent:
Herbert Harlakenden Gilchrist (1857–1914), son of Alexander and Anne Gilchrist, was an English painter and editor of Anne Gilchrist: Her Life and Writings (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1887). For more information, see Marion Walker Alcaro, "Gilchrist, Herbert Harlakenden (1857–1914)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).

Notes

  • 1. This letter is addressed: Walt Whitman | 328 Mickle Street | Camden, New Jersey. It is postmarked: LONDON, N.W. | 15 7 | NO19 | 85; NEW YORK | NOV | 28; PAID | J | ALL; CAMDEN, N.J. | NOV | 29 | 5 PM | 1885 | REC'D. [back]
  • 2. Anne Gilchrist died on November 29, 1885. See Herbert's letter to Whitman of December 2, 1885. Anne Gilchrist's last letter to the poet was sent on July 20. [back]
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