I have yours of 2d I do not consider that you owe me anything (the balance is the
other way). As for Nettie2 I should like to have here and keep her for your sake as
long as she lives but it is terribly bad business to send horses here. A horse worth
$200. in Camden would only be worth $125 to $150. here, and there would be freight and
a heavy duty to pay. I think you ought to have Harned3 or Traubel4 see to selling the horse
& wagon loc_es.00331.jpg there and
use the money to hire an easy carriage whenever you are able to get out for a drive.
The phaeton is not suitable for you now—not easy or solid enough. If you feel
that you want to give me any thing (you owe me nothing), let it be in the form of
books—autographed—"Centenial Ed."5 or "Complete Works"6 as you like, these
I should look upon as being equal to greenbacks for solid value. The weather here keeps
perfect—I am rejoiced that you are feeling some easier—you have a
wonderful constitution and you may (I think will) make a
good rally when the pleasant cool autumn days come.
Correspondent:
Richard Maurice Bucke (1837–1902) was a
Canadian physician and psychiatrist who grew close to Whitman after reading Leaves of Grass in 1867 (and later memorizing it) and
meeting the poet in Camden a decade later. Even before meeting Whitman, Bucke
claimed in 1872 that a reading of Leaves of Grass led him
to experience "cosmic consciousness" and an overwhelming sense of epiphany.
Bucke became the poet's first biographer with Walt
Whitman (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1883), and he later served as one
of his medical advisors and literary executors. For more on the relationship of
Bucke and Whitman, see Howard Nelson, "Bucke, Richard Maurice," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998).