Walt Whitman to Talcott Williams, 16 June 1886

About This Item

Title: Walt Whitman to Talcott Williams, 16 June 1886
Date: June 16, 1886
Creator(s): Walt Whitman
Whitman Archive ID: loc.04874
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.

Notes for this letter were created by Whitman Archive staff and/or were derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller, 6 vols. (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), and supplemented or updated by Whitman Archive staff.
Contributors to digital file: Stefan Schöberlein Kyle Barton
Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to Talcott Williams, 16 June 1886." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 11 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
Source File: loc.04874.xml (TEI)

loc_vm.01354_large.jpg 328 Mickle street Camden June 16 '86 My dear friend

Enclosed I send my piece in Thorndike Rice's just issued Lincoln Reminiscences1—I don't know whether you will want it—but I do know you like to have earliest copies of any thing. Should you print it, I leave the head-lines & introductory to you—& dont forget to give Rice's book the due credit. Should you print, I wish you would send me here 25 copies paper.

—I am ab't as usual—just going to drive down 12 miles to visit a poor young fellow, Walter Borton,2 very low with consumption.

Love to Mrs. W. and the sister.

Walt Whitman

If you cant use it, return the enclosed proof to me.

loc_vm.01355_large.jpg

Correspondent:
Talcott Williams (1849–1928) was associated with the New York Sun and World as well as the Springfield Republican before he became the editor of the Philadelphia Press in 1879. His newspaper vigorously defended Whitman in news articles and editorials after the Boston censorship of 1882. For more information about Williams, see Philip W. Leon, "Williams, Talcott (1849–1928)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).

Notes

1. See the letters from Whitman to James Redpath of December 15, 1885, and to John Burroughs of March 18, 1886. A lengthy review of Rice's volume with an extract from Whitman appeared in the Philadelphia Press on June 28. [back]
2. In his Commonplace Book (Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.), Whitman noted that he visited Walter Borton at Clementon, N.J., on May 23, June 4, and June 16. [back]