George Humphreys to Walt Whitman, 9 March 1892
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Mar 9th 92
7 Taylor Ln—
Bolton1
My Dear Walt Whitman
Just a few lines in response to your loving message to me, contained in Traubel's2 letter to Dr Johnston.3
How very kind of you to send such tokens of your love to me, tokens which go deep into my. heart, making life bright and cherful .
My little message will convey my gratitude, my deepest sympathy, and my very best love to you now— and always
your affectionatte Friend and Lover George Humphreys
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Correspondent:
Little is known about the
millwright and machine–fitter George Humphreys, who was a member of the
Bolton College group of Whitman admirers. In a February
27, 1892, letter to Whitman, James W. Wallace described Humphreys as a
socialist, the founder of "the Cooperative Commonwealth," and an inspiration to
fellow workers.
Notes
- 1. This letter card is addressed: Walt Whitman | 328 Mickle Street | Camden, N.J., | U.S.A America. It is postmarked: Bolton | 55 | MR9 | 92; Bolton | 55 | [illegible]; Camden | Mar20 | 130PM | 92 | Rec'd. [back]
- 2. Horace L. Traubel (1858–1919) was an American essayist, poet, and magazine publisher. He is best remembered as the literary executor, biographer, and self-fashioned "spirit child" of Walt Whitman. During the late 1880s and until Whitman's death in 1892, Traubel visited the poet virtually every day and took thorough notes of their conversations, which he later transcribed and published in three large volumes entitled With Walt Whitman in Camden (1906, 1908, & 1914). After his death, Traubel left behind enough manuscripts for six more volumes of the series, the final two of which were published in 1996. For more on Traubel, see Ed Folsom, "Traubel, Horace L. [1858–1919]," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927) of Annan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, was a physician, photographer, and avid cyclist. Johnston was trained in Edinburgh and served as a hospital surgeon in West Bromwich for two years before moving to Bolton, England, in 1876. Johnston worked as a general practitioner in Bolton and as an instructor of ambulance classes for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways. He served at Whalley Military Hospital during World War I and became Medical Superintendent of Townley's Hospital in 1917 (John Anson, "Bolton's Illustrious Doctor Johnston—a man of many talents," Bolton News [March 28, 2021]; Paul Salveson, Moorlands, Memories, and Reflections: A Centenary Celebration of Allen Clarke's Moorlands and Memories [Lancashire Loominary, 2020]). Johnston, along with the architect James W. Wallace, founded the "Bolton College" of English admirers of the poet. Johnston and Wallace corresponded with Whitman and with Horace Traubel and other members of the Whitman circle in the United States, and they separately visited the poet and published memoirs of their trips in John Johnston and James William Wallace, Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 by Two Lancashire Friends (London: Allen and Unwin, 1917). For more information on Johnston, see Larry D. Griffin, "Johnston, Dr. John (1852–1927)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]