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William Michael Rossetti to Walt Whitman, 6 October 1885

 loc.03607.001_large.jpg Dear Whitman,

As announced the other day, I have now the pleasure of enclosing Post-Office orders for £37.12.

It escaped me to mention in my previous letter that a Mr. Ernest Rhys1 not heretofore known to me (59 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London) called on me 2 or 3 weeks ago, wishing  loc.03607.002_large.jpg to obtain your address—wh.​ I gave him. He intended, as I understood, to write to you with a view to entering into some terms regarding a London edition of your Poems. He seemed to me to have a genuine feeling of regard for yourself & your works, & he asked me to convey to you an expression of his feeling when next I shd​ write.

Yours always, W. M. Rossetti.  loc.03607.003_large.jpg  loc.03607.004_large.jpg from W M Rossetti 6 Oct. '85 | enclosing p o order £37.12

Correspondent:
William Michael Rossetti (1829–1915), brother of Dante Gabriel and Christina Rossetti, was an English editor and a champion of Whitman's work. In 1868, Rossetti edited Whitman's Poems, selected from the 1867 Leaves of Grass. Whitman referred to Rossetti's edition as a "horrible dismemberment of my book" in his August 12, 1871, letter to Frederick S. Ellis. Nonetheless, the edition provided a major boost to Whitman's reputation, and Rossetti would remain a staunch supporter for the rest of Whitman's life, drawing in subscribers to the 1876 Leaves of Grass and fundraising for Whitman in England. For more on Whitman's relationship with Rossetti, see Sherwood Smith, "Rossetti, William Michael (1829–1915)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).


Notes

  • 1. Ernest Percival Rhys (1859–1946) was a British author and editor; he founded the Everyman's Library series of inexpensive reprintings of popular works. He included a volume of Whitman's poems in the Canterbury Poets series and two volumes of Whitman's prose in the Camelot series for Walter Scott publishers. For more information about Rhys, see Joel Myerson, "Rhys, Ernest Percival (1859–1946)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
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