Life & Letters

Correspondence

About this Item

Title: George N. Lovejoy to Walt Whitman, 12 August 1884

Date: August 12, 1884

Whitman Archive ID: loc.04897

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.

Editorial notes: The annotation, "3," is in an unknown hand.

Related item: On the back of this letter, Whitman wrote notes for a "Preface" for "Specimen Days" that would "smoothe" the "rugged exegesis" of Leaves of Grass.

Contributors to digital file: Alex Ashland, Ian Faith, Nicole Gray, and Stephanie Blalock



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Ann Arbor. Michigan.1
August 12th 1884.

Mr. Walt Whitman.
My Dear Sir:

In Baldwin's Monthly2 for July there was quite a long article relating to yourself,3 written by me. I do not know whether you read it or not, but fancy that you did. You have doubtless forgotten me, though I met you—as I have narrated—in the article.


Correspondent:
George Newell Lovejoy (1843–1915) was a poet and songwriter born in Riga, New York. He went to school in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and graduated from the University of Michigan law school in 1864. He wrote historic ballads and popular verse, and he published a number of songs; he also wrote articles for several major periodicals.

Notes:

1. Whitman drew a line in ink through this letter. [back]

2. Baldwin's Monthly was a literary and advertising journal published by the clothier O. S. Baldwin in New York. Whitman sent his article "An Indian Bureau Reminiscence" to the journal, and it was published in February 1884. See Whitman's letter to O.S. Baldwin of December 18, 1883[back]

3. Lovejoy's "Walt Whitman" appeared in Baldwin's Monthly on first page of the July 1884 issue. [back]


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