Dr. John Johnston to Walt Whitman, 28 October 1891

 loc.02525.001_large.jpg 54 Manchester Road, Bolton. England1 Oct. 28th 1891 My Dear Old Friend,

Your two postals of Oct 15th & 16th2 came by last mail & I thank you cordially for your thoughtful kindness in sending them & for your information about J.W.W.'s3 visits to you.4

A good letter from Warry5—for wh: I should be glad if you would kindly thank him for me—& another from Horace6 furnish us with some of the interesting details which are so eagerly devoured. But, like Oliver Twist,7 we long for more.8  loc.02525.002_large.jpg Our appetites are as insatiable as that of the horse-leech which constantly cries—"give, give!"9

Happy Wallace! Lucky Wallace! What an experience & what life-long memories will henceforth be his!

Later 5.30 pm

Again comes the American mail with a delightful budget for me—a p.c. from you,10 & letters from J.W.W. & H.L.T.11 Thanks & again thanks to you all for your kindness in keeping us au fait with the latest particulars concerning yourself & our dear Comrades.

Glad indeed are we all to know that your health keeps (comparatively)  loc.02525.003_large.jpg good for you & that you are able to receive Wallace for a short time every day. It joys us too to hear from you that he is "well & hearty" & "Enjoying everything."

And you have had your old friend Andrew Rome12 over to see you too! That would do you good I know & his presence wd revive many dear reminiscences of the olden days & make you feel young again. You know he & I are cousins by marriage, & he is an Annan man like myself.13

I have sent your p.c. upon its round  loc.02525.004_large.jpg among the Whitman "Church" members.14

This has been a glorious day—bright & sunny—tho cool from East wind—with an almost cloudless blue sky—a day to rejoice the heart of man & make him feel glad he is alive

I am just in from my professional round & write this to the accompaniment of the rattle of lorries cabs & trains the bumping of Railway wagons—for my house is next to the goods yard—& the screaming of engines—the setting sun shining & flushing the paved street & glittering in gold on the upper corridors of the houses opposite.

 loc.02525.005_large.jpg

Last Sunday we had Ben Tillett15 in Bolton. I could not go to hear him but I send you a newspaper report of his "sermon" in which, I am told he spoke of you as one of the world's "five talent men" & dwell upon your hospital work, coupling your name with that of Florence Nightingale16 & others.

It will interest you to know that I have undertaken by request to read a paper on you before the "Bolton Literary Society," a society consisting mainly of the (so called) upper class & of wh: our F.R.C. Hutton17 is President

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This week we have had the first touch of Winter's cold fingers & the recent gales & slight night frosts have almost cleared the woods & hedgerows of foliage

May the oncoming Winter treat you leniently my dear good hearted old friend

Good night to you & god bless you! My kindest regards to Warry Harry18 & good Mrs D19 & my heart's devotion to you

Yours ever J Johnston  loc.02525.007_large.jpg see notes Nov 17 1891  loc.02525.008_large.jpg

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Notes

• 1. This letter is addressed: Walt Whitman | 328 Mickle St | Camden | New Jersey | U.S. America. It is postmarked: Bolton | 55 | OC 28 | 91; Camden, N.J. | NOV 6 | 4 PM | 91 | Rec'd; New York | [illegible] | [illegible]; Paid | [illegible] | All. [back]
• 2. See Whitman's postal cards to Johnston of October 15 and October 16, 1891. [back]
• 3. James William Wallace (1853–1926), of Bolton, England, was an architect and great admirer of Whitman. Wallace, along with Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927), a physician in Bolton, 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 Wallace, see Larry D. Griffin, "Wallace, James William (1853–1926)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
• 4. James W. Wallace arrived at Philadelphia on September 8, 1891 (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Tuesday, September 8, 1891). After spending a few days with Whitman, Wallace traveled to London, Ontario, Canada, where he visited with Dr. Bucke and his family and friends, and then continued his tour in New York and New Jersey before returning to England. [back]
• 5. Frank Warren Fritzinger (1867–1899), known as "Warry," took Edward Wilkins's place as Whitman's nurse, beginning in October 1889. Fritzinger and his brother Harry were the sons of Henry Whireman Fritzinger (about 1828–1881), a former sea captain who went blind, and Almira E. Fritzinger. Following Henry Sr.'s death, Warren and his brother—having lost both parents—became wards of Mary O. Davis, Whitman's housekeeper, who had also taken care of the sea captain and who inherited part of his estate. A picture of Warry is displayed in the May 1891 New England Magazine (278). See Joann P. Krieg, "Fritzinger, Frederick Warren (1866–1899)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998), 240. [back]
• 6. 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]
• 7. Oliver Twist is the protagonist of Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist, or the Parish Boy's Progress. The novel tells the story of Oliver, a young orphan born in a workhouse, who was sold into an apprenticeship with an undertaker. Escaping to London, Oliver meets a gang of juvenile pickpockets, and is eventually adopted. The novel addresses such issues as child labor, domestic violence, and the treatment of orphans in nineteenth-century England. [back]
• 8. Johnston is referencing the famous scene in Oliver Twist where Oliver, living in a parish workhouse, is delegated by the other boys living there to ask the master for a second bowl of gruel: "Please, sir, I want some more." [back]
• 9. Johnston is referring to Proverbs 30:15: "The horseleech hath two daughters, crying, Give, give." [back]
• 10. Johnston may be referring to Whitman's postal card of October [16], 1891. [back]
• 11. 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]
• 12. Andrew Rome, perhaps with the assistance of his brother Tom, printed Whitman's first edition of Leaves of Grass (1855) in a small shop at the intersection of Fulton and Cranberry in Brooklyn. It was likely the first book the firm ever printed. [back]
• 13. Annan, a town in southwestern Scotland, was Johnston's birthplace and family home. [back]
• 14. The "Bolton College" was a group of Whitman admirers located in Bolton, England. Founded by Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927) and James William Wallace (1853–1926), the group corresponded with Whitman and Horace Traubel throughout the final years of the poet's life. 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). For more information on Wallace, see Larry D. Griffin, "Wallace, James William (1853–1926)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
• 15. Benjamin Tillett (1860–1943) was a British trade union leader and a politician. In 1887 he formed the Tea Operatives and General Labourers Union, later renamed as the Dock, Wharf, Riverside, and General Labourers' Union, which became well known in 1889 during the London dock strike. Tillet was a member of the Fabian Society, and he joined the Social Democratic Federation. He later became a politician, serving as an alderman on the London Council before going on to become a member of Parliament from the Labour Party for Salford North from 1917 to 1924. [back]
• 16. Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) was an English statistician who managed and trained nurses during the Crimean War. She became known for her social reform work and her work in professionalizing nursing for women. She is recognized both as the founder of modern nursing and for her early and effective use of visual methods when presenting statistical data. [back]
• 17. Reverend Frederick Robert Chapman Hutton (1856–1926) was the Vicar of St. George's Church, Bolton, and St. Paul's, Astley Bridge. [back]
• 18. Harry Fritzinger (about 1866–?) was the brother of Warren Fritzinger, who would serve as Whitman's nurse beginning in October 1889. Harry worked as an office boy in Camden when he was fourteen. He also worked as a sailor. Later, he became a railroad conductor. Mary Davis, Whitman's housekeeper, took care of both Harry and Warren after the death of their father, the sea captain Henry W. Fritzinger. Davis had looked after Capt. Fritzinger, who went blind, before she started to perform the same housekeeping services for Whitman. Harry married Rebecca Heisler on September 15, 1890. [back]
• 19. Mary Oakes Davis (1837 or 1838–1908) was Whitman's housekeeper. For more, see Carol J. Singley, "Davis, Mary Oakes (1837 or 1838–1908)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]