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David Mckay to Walt Whitman, 31 October 1890

About This Item

  • Title: David Mckay to Walt Whitman, 31 October 1890
  • Date: October 31, 1890
  • Creator(s): David McKay
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.03128
  • 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: Cristin Noonan Brandon James O'Neil Marie Ernster Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: McKay, David. "David Mckay to Walt Whitman, 31 October 1890." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 26 April 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.03128.xml (TEI)
 loc.03128.002_large.jpg DAVID MCKAY, 23 S. 9th St., Phila.1 Oct 31 1890 PUBLISHER AND BOOKSELLER Old Books Bought, Sold, and Exchanged.

Please send us 1 Complete Edition,2 with bill for same, also send bill for 50 in sheets and one bound, which have been delivered

yours &etc David McKay  loc.03128.001_large.jpg

Correspondent:
David McKay (1860–1918) took over Philadelphia-based publisher Rees Welsh's bookselling and publishing businesses in 1881–82. McKay and Rees Welsh published the 1881 edition of Leaves of Grass after opposition from the Boston District Attorney prompted James R. Osgood & Company of Boston, the original publisher, to withdraw. McKay also went on to publish Specimen Days & Collect, November Boughs, Gems from Walt Whitman, Complete Prose Works, and the final Leaves of Grass, the so-called deathbed edition. For more information about McKay, see Joel Myerson, "McKay, David (1860–1918)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).

Notes

  • 1. This postal card is addressed: Walt Whitman | 328 Mickle St. | Camden | N. J. It is postmarked: Philadephia | Oct 31 | 1230PM | 90; Camden, N. J. | Oct 31 | 3PM | 90 | Rec'd. [back]
  • 2. Whitman's Complete Poems & Prose (1888), a volume Whitman often referred to as the "big book," was published by the poet himself—in an arrangement with publisher David McKay, who allowed Whitman to use the plates for both Leaves of Grass and Specimen Days—in December 1888. With the help of Horace Traubel, Whitman made the presswork and binding decisions for the volume. Frederick Oldach bound the book, which included a profile photo of the poet on the title page. For more information on the book, see Ed Folsom, Whitman Making Books/Books Making Whitman: A Catalog and Commentary (University of Iowa: Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, 2005). [back]
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