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Anderton, nr Chorley
Lancashire, England1
18. Feb. 1892.
Dear Walt,
Your letter of Feb 6th & 7th2 to Johnston3 to hand today.
We have just spent the evening together—first at his house,
then in a 4 mile walk in the country here—Johnston returning by train.
Snow on ground, air clear &
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frosty, stars large & lustrous—Venus & Sirius especially so.
We intend to have exact fac-similes of your letter lithographed & to send them to all your friends.4
How deeply your letter has stirred us I cannot tell you.5 Our hearts best love to you for ever.
God bless you.
Wallace
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Correspondent:
James William Wallace
(1853–1926), of Bolton, England, was an architect and great admirer of
Whitman. Wallace, along with Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927), a physician in
Bolton, founded the "Bolton College" of English admirers of the poet. Johnston
and Wallace corresponded with Whitman and with Horace Traubel and other members
of the Whitman circle in the United States, and they separately visited the poet
and published memoirs of their trips in John Johnston and James William Wallace,
Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 by Two
Lancashire Friends (London: Allen and Unwin, 1917). For more
information on Wallace, see Larry D. Griffin, "Wallace, James William (1853–1926)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. This letter is addressed:
Walt Whitman, | 328 Mickle St | Camden | New Jersey | U.S.
America It is postmarked: BOLTON | 31 | FE [illegible] | 92; NEW YORK | FEB | 24; PAID | C | All; D |
92; CAMDEN, N.J. | FEB 4 | 4PM | 92 | REC'D. [back]
- 2. Wallace is referring to
Whitman's letter of February 6–7, 1892, in
which he details for Dr. John Johnston some of his ailments and notes that it
"may be [his] last" letter as his "right arm [is] giving out." Johnston had a
facsimile of this letter produced, which he distributed to Whitman's
friends. [back]
- 3. Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927)
of Annan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, was a physician, photographer, and avid
cyclist. Johnston was trained in Edinburgh and served as a hospital surgeon in
West Bromwich for two years before moving to Bolton, England, in 1876. Johnston
worked as a general practitioner in Bolton and as an instructor of ambulance
classes for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways. He served at Whalley Military
Hospital during World War I and became Medical Superintendent of Townley's
Hospital in 1917 (John Anson, "Bolton's Illustrious Doctor Johnston—a man
of many talents," Bolton News [March 28, 2021]; Paul
Salveson, Moorlands, Memories, and Reflections: A Centenary
Celebration of Allen Clarke's Moorlands and Memories [Lancashire
Loominary, 2020]). Johnston, along with the architect James W. Wallace, founded
the "Bolton College" of English admirers of the poet. Johnston and Wallace
corresponded with Whitman and with Horace Traubel and other members of the
Whitman circle in the United States, and they separately visited the poet and
published memoirs of their trips in John Johnston and James William Wallace, Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 by Two Lancashire
Friends (London: Allen and Unwin, 1917). For more information on
Johnston, see Larry D. Griffin, "Johnston, Dr. John (1852–1927)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 4. According to Dr. John
Johnston's February 27, 1892, letter to Whitman,
facsimiles of Whitman's February 6–7 1892,
letter to Johnston were sent to seventy of the poet's friends. [back]
- 5. On December 17, 1891,
Whitman had come down with a chill and was suffering from congestion in his
right lung. Although the poet's condition did improve in January 1892, he would
never recover. He was confined to his bed, and his physicians, Dr. Daniel
Longaker of Philadelphia and Dr. Alexander McAlister of Camden, provided care
during his final illness. Whitman died on March 26, 1892. [back]