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Walt Whitman to S.S. McClure, 4 December 1889

About This Item

  • Title: Walt Whitman to S.S. McClure, 4 December 1889
  • Date: December 4, 1889
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.03108
  • 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: Blake Bronson-Bartlett Ryan Furlong Brandon James O'Neil Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to S.S. McClure, 4 December 1889." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 09 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.03108.xml (TEI)
 loc.03108.001.jpg 328 Mickle Street Camden New Jersey Dec: 4 '89 Dear Sir

Can you use this poemet1 in your cluster?—It would probably do to go out just as well during the week immediately preceding Christmas—The price is $11 (ten for the little piece & one for printing the slips)—your notes rec'd:2 thank'd for, & I may send you something—

Respectfully Walt Whitman  loc.03108.002.jpg

Correspondent:
Samuel Sidney McClure (1857–1949) was the co-founder and editor of McClure's Magazine. Well-known for its investigative journalism, the illustrated monthly initially rejected Whitman's submissions and only posthumously published some of his poetry (in 1897).

Notes

  • 1. Whitman is referring to the poem ultimately titled "A Christmas Greeting." In his December 3, 1889, letter to Richard Maurice Bucke the poet refers to the poem as "the little 'Northern Star-Group to a Southern' (welcome to Brazilian Republic)." This would become the poem's subtitle: "From a Northern Star-Group to a Southern. 1889–'90." See also "[A North Star]," a manuscript draft of this poem, in the Catalog of the Walt Whitman Literary Manuscripts in The Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. [back]
  • 2. McClure had written to Whitman on December 3, 1889. [back]
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