Skip to main content

Lorenz Reich to Walt Whitman, 17 November 1885

 loc.03555.001_large.jpg Mr. Walt Whitman Esteemed Sir,

Will you permit me to offer you, as emphasizing my appreciation of the melodies you have sung for the lovers of poesy, a golden fluid which symbolizes the health of pray that Providence will vouchsafe you for many years to come, as is this wine of Hungary to the lovers of nectar, so are your nuggets of imagery to the devotees of genius, and, in tendering it to you, I beg you will consider that its every drop distills something of the  loc.03555.002_large.jpg  loc.03555.003_large.jpg warm appreciation your exceptional creations have kindled in my breast. With assurances of fervent regard

Ever Yours Cordially Lorenz Reich  loc.03555.004_large.jpg ans'd

Correspondent:
Lorenz Reich (1848–1931) was an importer of Hungarian wine in New York City. He made a practice of sending complimentary cases of wine to individuals he admired. The archive of letters of thanks at the New York Historical Society includes appreciative replies from Robert Browning, Samuel Clemens, Grover Cleveland, Ulysses S. Grant, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and John Greenleaf Whittier, among others.

Back to top