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Dr. William Reeder to Walt Whitman, 24 November 1891

About This Item

  • Title: Dr. William Reeder to Walt Whitman, 24 November 1891
  • Date: November 24, 1891
  • Creator(s): Dr. William Reeder
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.03628
  • 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: Ethan Heusser Cristin Noonan Alex Ashland Amanda J. Axley
  • Cite this page: Reeder, Dr. William. "Dr. William Reeder to Walt Whitman, 24 November 1891." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 03 May 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.03628.xml (TEI)
 loc.03628.001_large.jpg Broad-Axe, Pa. Nov. 24, 18911 My Dear Whitman:

I take the liberty of sending you a barrel of potatoes and some cider, it seeming to be the best way I know of expressing my feelings these Thanksgiving times, although in the act I am awkwardly re loc.03628.002_large.jpgminded of Uncle Pumblechook (in "Great Expectations") who yearly announced to Mrs. Joe, "I have brought you as the compliments of the season—I have brought you, Mum, a bottle of sherry wine—I have brought you, Mum, a bottle of port wine"2

I hope you will not see it in the same light however, the potatoes were grown on our new place and the cider is a portion of some we have been preparing to keep through the winter, Mrs Reeder and I hope you will accept them as a token of our highest regards.

Very sincerely yours, Wm. Reeder  loc.03628.003_large.jpg  loc_tb.00031.jpg W M Reeder  loc_tb.00030.jpg

Correspondent:
Dr. William M. Reeder was a Philadelphia physician and an admirer of Whitman. In May of 1891, he took "flash pictures in front and back bedrooms" of Whitman’s Camden home. He also took photos of the poet's tomb at Camden's Harleigh Cemetery. Though Reeder was an amateur photographer, Whitman appreciated his talent, telling Traubel that Reeder was "quite an artist," and that he possessed "taste" and a "good eye!" (Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Wednesday, July 8, 1891).

Notes

  • 1. This letter is addressed: Walt Whitman | 328 Mickle St. | Camden, N.J. [back]
  • 2. Uncle Pumblechook is a merchant in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations (1861) who arrogantly views himself as a benefactor to the protagonist Pip and Mrs. Joe, Pip's much older sister. [back]
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