The Walt Whitman Archive
Life & Letters
Correspondence
About this Item
Title: Roger E. Ingpen to Walt Whitman, 16 October 1890
Date: October 16, 1890
Whitman Archive ID: loc.02357
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: Kirby Little, Ian Faith, Breanna Himschoot, and Stephanie Blalock
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3 Pauntny Road
Lavender Hill. SW.
London. England1
October 16th '90
My dear Sir
The only excuse that I can offer for trespassing upon your privacy & your time, is the great admiration I hold both for your name & your works
I am having printed a volume of verses,2 and as I wish to show—though inadequately I know—my gratitude to the illustrious author of 'Leaves of Grass' I am writing to beg your acceptance of the dedication. I am quite aware that my work at its best, can be but an unfitting sequence to your name, but my tribute is not the less sincere.
The volume is to be quite a slender one, & to consist for the most part of pieces which have appeared from time to time in English periodicals. I would have enclosed proof sheets—to enable you to judge of their merit, but I have not received any from the printer yet & I do not wish to delay publication longer than necessary.
Believe me
Yours very truly
Roger E. Ingpen
Walt Whitman Esq
Correspondent:
Roger E. Ingpen (b. 1867) was born
in London; he was the son of William Ingpen—an artist—and Emma
Constance Ingpen. Roger was a contributor to publications such as The Gentleman's Magazine, and he worked first as a
publisher's reader and, later, as a publisher and editor in his own right. He
edited numerous books of writings by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Samuel Johnson, and
Leigh Hunt.
Notes:
1. This letter is addressed: Walt. Whitman Esq | Camden | New Jersey | United States of America. It is postmarked: London S [illegible] | 3 | OC [illegible] | 90; Camden, N.J. | OCT | 27 | 6 AM | 1890 | REC'D. [back]
2. If this volume was ever published, it has not been identified. [back]