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Richard Maurice Bucke to Walt Whitman, 28 November 1888

About This Item

  • Title: Richard Maurice Bucke to Walt Whitman, 28 November 1888
  • Date: November 28, 1888
  • Creator(s): Richard Maurice Bucke
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.07273
  • 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.
  • Contributors to digital file: Ryan Furlong Alex Ashland Caterina Bernardini Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Richard Maurice Bucke to Walt Whitman, 28 November 1888." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 13 December 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.07273.xml (TEI)
 loc_es.00488.jpg Superintendent's Office.1 ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE LONDON. ONTARIO London, Ont., 28 Nov. 1888

I have your fine long welcome letter of 24th I am glad the big book2 keeps moving—I hope you will hit on a good picturesque, characteristic cover for it—this will be the book of the future and should not be too commonplace in any way. The cover of the '60–1 ed. might be taken as a point to start from—with some modification, perhaps toning down, that cover (the style of it) would not do badly. I have written a line to Garland3—his column in the Transcript4 was admirable. Nothing new from Wm Gurd,5 expect him here very soon, then as soon as we can get Canadian and European patents secured we shall go East.  loc_es.00489.jpg I am uneasy about O'Connor,6 if you hear from him let me know how he is—I am afraid he is not doing well—wish I could see him.

Remember me to Ed. Wilkins7 tell him that every thing goes quietly along here since he left us

The weather is stupid this morning (dull & heavy) and I think I am a little stupid myself—nothing very wonderful if I am

Shall soon write again

Love to you R M Bucke  loc_es.00486.jpg see notes Nov 30 1888  loc_es.00487.jpg

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).

Notes

  • 1. This letter is addressed: Walt Whitman | 328 Mickle Street | Camden | New Jersey | U.S.A. It is postmarked: London | PM | NO 29 | 88 | CANADA; NY | 11-29 88 | 2 PM; CAMDEN | NOV | 30 | 6 AM | 18[cut away] | REC'D. [back]
  • 2. Whitman wanted to publish a "big book" that included all of his writings, and, with the help of Horace Traubel, Whitman made the presswork and binding decisions for the volume. Frederick Oldach bound Whitman's Complete Poems & Prose (1888), which included a profile photo of the poet on the title page. The book was published in December 1888. For more information on the book, see Ed Folsom, Whitman Making Books/Books Making Whitman: A Catalog and Commentary (University of Iowa: Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, 2005). [back]
  • 3. Hamlin Garland (1860–1940) was an American novelist and autobiographer, known especially for his works about the hardships of farm life in the American Midwest. For his relationship to Whitman, see Thomas K. Dean, "Garland, Hamlin," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
  • 4. Garland's review of November Boughs was published in the Boston Evening Transcript (15 November 1888). [back]
  • 5. William John Gurd (1845–1903) was Richard Maurice Bucke's brother-in-law, with whom he was designing a gas and fluid meter to be patented in Canada and sold in England. Bucke believed the meter would be worth "millions of dollars," while Whitman remained skeptical, sometimes to Bucke's annoyance. In a March 18, 1888, letter to William D. O'Connor, Whitman wrote, "The practical outset of the meter enterprise collapsed at the last moment for the want of capital investors." For additional information, see Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Sunday, March 17, 1889, Monday, March 18, 1889, Friday, March 22, 1889, and Wednesday, April 3, 1889. [back]
  • 6. William Douglas O'Connor (1832–1889) was the author of the grand and grandiloquent Whitman pamphlet The Good Gray Poet: A Vindication, published in 1866. For more on Whitman's relationship with O'Connor, see Deshae E. Lott, "O'Connor, William Douglas (1832–1889)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
  • 7. Edward "Ned" Wilkins (1865–1936) was one of Whitman's nurses during his Camden years; he was sent to Camden from London, Ontario, by Dr. Richard M. Bucke, and he began caring for Whitman on November 5, 1888. He stayed for a year before returning to Canada to attend the Ontario Veterinary School. Wilkins graduated on March 24, 1893, and then he returned to the United States to commence his practice in Alexandria, Indiana. For more information, see Bert A. Thompson, "Edward Wilkins: Male Nurse to Walt Whitman," Walt Whitman Review 15 (September 1969), 194–195. [back]
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