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James Knowles to Walt Whitman, 21 February 1890

About This Item

  • Title: James Knowles to Walt Whitman, 21 February 1890
  • Date: February 21, 1890
  • Creator(s): James Knowles
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.03209
  • 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 Ian Faith Alex Ashland Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Knowles, James. "James Knowles to Walt Whitman, 21 February 1890." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 09 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.03209.xml (TEI)
 loc.03209.001.jpg Feb 21st 18901 To / Walt [cut away]man Eq My Dear Sir

I apologize heartily for my delay in replying to your kind note of last November enclosing the page of "poemets" 'old age echoes'2—which you were so good as to offer me at the price of £20—

My excuse is just that I have been very much away from London this winter & have run into arrears all round (if that be an excuse!)—& secondly my unwillingness to do the unwelcome & ungracious thing implied in my being unable to avail myself of the "Poemets."

I am so extremely sorry not to see my way to utilizing them for my Review & I accordingly3 return herewith the printed proof of them as you now request—

Yours very faithfully James Knowles4  loc.03209.002.jpg  loc.03209.003.jpg  loc.03209.004.jpg  loc.03209.005.jpg  loc.03209.006.jpg

Correspondent:
James Thomas Knowles (1831–1908) was the editor of The Nineteenth Century, a leading British monthly magazine, in which "Fancies at Navesink" was published on August 18, 1885. He was also an architect and the founder of the Metaphysical Society, dedicated to discovering common ground between science and religion.

Notes

  • 1. This letter is addressed: To Walt Whitman Eq | Camden | New Jersey | United States of | America—. It is postmarked: London S.W. | [illegible]2 | FE 21 | 90; New York | Mar | 2; Camden, N.J. | Mar | 3 | 9 AM | 18[illegible] | Rec'd; Paid | F | All. Knowles has initialled the lower left corner of this side of the envelope. [back]
  • 2. Whitman's "Old Age Echoes," a series of four short poems, appeared in Lippincott's Magazine in March 1891 and were reprinted in Goodbye My Fancy (1891). [back]
  • 3. The remainder of the letter, including the signature, is written in the upper left corner of this leaf. [back]
  • 4. The text of this letter has been cancelled with a diagonal line from the upper left to the lower right of the leaf. Just above the date, a rectangular portion of the letter has been removed, possibly for the purpose of saving a name or address. [back]
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