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Walt Whitman to James W. Wallace, 29 May 1887

About This Item

  • Title: Walt Whitman to James W. Wallace, 29 May 1887
  • Date: May 29, 1887
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.07192
  • Source: The Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), 96. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Contributors to digital file: Ryan Furlong Stefan Schöberlein Kevin McMullen Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to James W. Wallace, 29 May 1887." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 09 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.07192.xml (TEI)
U.S. America, Camden New Jersey 328 Mickle St.1 May 29 '87

Your & Dr Johnston's2 letter & the pictures & birthday gift have safely reach'd me, & thank you indeed from my heart—I am ab't as usual in health—& a little (but not much) engaged in writing—Your letter is indeed comforting to one—

Walt Whitman

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: J W Wallace | 14 Eagle Street | Bolton England. It is postmarked: Camden, N.J. | May 2(?) | 3 PM | 87. [back]
  • 2. John Johnston (1852–1927) was an English physician and co-founder of the "Bolton College." 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]
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