The Walt Whitman Archive
Life & Letters
Correspondence
About this Item
Title: Allen Thorndike Rice to Walt Whitman, 16 November 1885
Date: November 16, 1885
Whitman Archive ID: loc.02914
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, and Stephanie Blalock
 image 1 |  image 2 |
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.
———
ALLEN THORNDIKE RICE, EDITOR AND PROPRIETER.
———
Editorial Department.
New York,
Nov. 16 1885
Dear
Sir:
Your manuscript entitled "Abraham Lincoln" has been received. You will be notified, at the earliest opportunity, whether it is available for the North America Review.1
It has not yet been read.
Should your paper be returned it is proper to state, now, that the refusal of an article does not imply any want of appreciation of its intrinsic value. As I am accustomed to invite articles long in advance of their possible publication, the Review is ordinarily supplied with as much material as can be used for several coming numbers.
As a general rule, therefore, volunteer contributions, to ensure acceptance, must deal with topics of important and timely interest not previously provided for editorially.
Very truly yours,
ALLEN THORNDIKE RICE.
Walt Whitman, Esq.
Correspondent:
Charles Allen Thorndike
Rice (1851–1889) purchased The North American
Review in 1876. See also the letter from Whitman to John Burroughs of
February 1, 1881.
Notes:
1. The sentence that begins "You will be notified" is crossed out. There is a drawn-in line beginning at the top of the page above the words "THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW" and extending to the bottom of the page. Both paragraphs following the sentence "It has not been read" are also crossed out. [back]