James W. Wallace to Walt Whitman, 16 December 1890

 loc_vm.02195.jpg Anderton, near Chorley. Lancashire, England 16. Dec. 1890 Dear Walt Whitman,

Dr Johnston1 has told you about the "Surprise Party" he received on his birthday—the 8th inst!—I, myself, was unable to attend it, & Hutton2 is away from home at present, but all the rest of the friends3 were there & had a "good time"  loc_vm.02196.jpg One of our friends—W. Dixon4—contributed two songs (with choruses) of which I afterwards asked for copies. I received them today & read them at noon for the first time. It occurred to me as I read them that they might possibly afford you a slight momentary amusement, & I will send them on with this.5 loc_vm.02197.jpg As you will see, they haven't much merit or value but you will note the reference to Dr Johnston's visit to you.

One line saying that Dr. J. "triumphantly has shown us a hair from off your beard!" requires explanation. In a letter he received from you he saw (and appropriated) a white hair attached to the mucilage of the envelope.

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I hope that you are better than when you last wrote,6 and am anxious to hear a better report.

The weather here has been very cold and frosty for a week back, and now threatens snow.

With love and best wishes always, Yours affectionately J. W. Wallace

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Notes

• 1. 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]
• 2. Reverend Frederick Robert Chapman Hutton (1856–1926) was the Vicar of St. George's Church, Bolton, and St. Paul's, Astley Bridge. [back]
• 3. Wallace is referring to the "Bolton College," a group of English admirers of Whitman, that he and Johnston co-founded. [back]
• 4. Wentworth Dixon (1855–1928) was a lawyer's clerk and a member of the "Bolton College" of Whitman admirers. He was also affiliated with the Labour Church, an organization whose socialist politics and working-class ideals were often informed by Whitman's work. Dixon communicated directly with Whitman only a few times, but we can see in his letters a profound sense of care for the poet's failing health, as well as genuine gratitude for Whitman's continued correspondence with the "Eagle Street College." See Dixon's letters to Whitman of June 13, 1891 and February 24, 1892. For more on Dixon and Whitman's Bolton disciples, see Paul Salveson, "Loving Comrades: Lancashire's Links to Walt Whitman," Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 14.2 (1996), 57–84. [back]
• 5. These enclosures have not been located. [back]
• 6. It is uncertain which letter is being referred to here. [back]