The Walt Whitman Archive
Life & Letters
Correspondence
About this Item
Title: William T. Stead to Walt Whitman, 16 February 1891
Date: February 16, 1891
Whitman Archive ID: loc.04337
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, and Stephanie Blalock
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The Review
of Reviews.
Edited by W.T. STEAD.
Mowbray House,
Norfolk St, Strand,
London.1
Telephone No. 2867
Telegrams, "Vatican, London."
February 16th., 1891.
Walt Whitman, Esq.
CAMDEN,
NEW JERSEY,
U.S.A.
Dear Sir,
I think you will be able to recognise both the portrait and the handwriting on page 163 of the new number of the REVIEW OF REVIEWS2 which I forward you herewith.3 Many thanks to you for your kindness. Pray remember that I shall always be glad to hear from you and to see anything from your pen.
I am,
Yours truly,
W T Stead
Correspondent:
William Thomas Stead
(1849–1912) was a well-known English journalist and editor of The Pall Mall Gazette in the 1880s. He was a proponent of
what he called "government by journalism" and advocated for a strong press that
would influence public opinion and affect government decision-making. His
investigative reports were much discussed and often had significant social
impact. He has sometimes been credited with inventing what came to be called
"tabloid journalism," since he worked to make newspapers more attractive to
readers, incorporating maps, illustrations, interviews, and eye-catching
headlines. He died on the Titanic when it sank in
1912.
Notes:
1. This letter is addressed: Walt Whitman, Esq. | CAMDEN, | NEW JERSEY, | U.S.A. It is postmarked: Bedford St S. O. | 9 [illegible] | FE 17 | 91 | [illegible]. C; Camden, N.J. | Mar | 3 | 6 AM | 1891 | [illegible]ec'd. The envelope bears the printed return address of the Review of Reviews. [back]
2. The Review of Reviews was a magazine begun by the reform journalist William Thomas Stead (1849–1912) in 1890 and published in Great Britain. It contained reviews and excerpts from other magazines and journals, as well as original pieces, many written by Stead himself. [back]
3. The February 1891 issue of The Review of Reviews included an illustration, drawn from a photograph of the poet by Napoleon Sarony taken in July 1878, and a facsimile of a manuscript postal card written and signed by Whitman. See The Review of Reviews: An International Magazine. American Edition 5 (1891), 11. [back]