Camden
Nov. 19 '87
Thank you & double-thank you, my dear young man, for your affectionate letter
& money help $25 which came safely to-day—Every thing is going on here
much the same—Mrs. D[avis]1 is well & busy—& I sit
here each day in the big chair by the window—(slowly waning I suppose)—H
Gilchrist2 is back in London with his picture, wh' as I
understand gets good opinions. I have heard from him once or twice. I am expecting
Ernest Rhys3 here soon. Morse4 the
sculptor is still here. Mr Eakins the portrait painter, of Phila5:, is going to have
a whack at me next week.6
Dull dark dripping day as I write. My little canary is singing blithely. I enclose
you my last pieces—Yes, indeed we shall be glad to see you—Mrs D will
& I will—Meanwhile love to you & God bless you—
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
Leonard M. Brown (c.
1857–1928), a young English schoolteacher and friend of Herbert Gilchrist,
came to America in May, 1887. On March 31, 1887,
Gilchrist wrote to Whitman: "he is an uncommonly good fellow, quiet earnet
serious soul and very practical, full of solid worth, whose knowledge and
attainments are sure to be valued in America. His father is a clergyman, and
this son of his reads Leaves of Grass silently & unobserved by the sect of
his orthodox family." An entry in Whitman's Commonplace Book on August 29 reads:
"Leonard Morgan Brown goes back to Croton-on-Hudson—has been here ab't a
week" (Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman,
1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). See also Whitman's
letter to Brown of November 19, 1887; his letter
to Herbert Gilchrist of December 12, 1886, note 2;
and his letter to Brown of February 7,
1890.
Notes
- 1. Mary Oakes Davis (1837 or
1838–1908) was Whitman's housekeeper. For more, see Carol J. Singley,
"Davis, Mary Oakes (1837 or 1838–1908)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 2. Herbert Harlakenden Gilchrist
(1857–1914), son of Alexander and Anne Gilchrist, was an English painter
and editor of Anne Gilchrist: Her Life and Writings
(London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1887). For more information, see Marion Walker Alcaro,
"Gilchrist, Herbert Harlakenden (1857–1914)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D.
Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. Ernest Percival Rhys
(1859–1946) was a British author and editor; he founded the Everyman's
Library series of inexpensive reprintings of popular works. He included a volume
of Whitman's poems in the Canterbury Poets series and two volumes of Whitman's
prose in the Camelot series for Walter Scott publishers. For more information
about Rhys, see Joel Myerson, "Rhys, Ernest Percival (1859–1946)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 4. Sidney H. Morse (1832–1903)
was a self-taught sculptor as well as a Unitarian minister and, from 1866 to
1872, editor of The Radical. He visited Whitman in Camden
many times and made various busts of him. Whitman had commented on an earlier
bust by Morse that it was "wretchedly bad." For more on this, see Ruth L. Bohan,
Looking into Walt Whitman: American Art,
1850–1920 (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press,
2006), 105–109. [back]
- 5. Thomas Eakins (1844–1919) was
an American painter. His relationship with Whitman was characterized by deep
mutual respect, and he soon became a close friend of the poet. For more on
Eakins, see Philip W. Leon, "Eakins, Thomas (1844–1916)," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 6. On December 22, 1887,
Whitman wrote in his Commonplace Book: "Thos. Eakins is here painting my
portrait—it seems strong (I don't know but powerful) &
realistic—very different from Herbert's—It is pretty well advanced
& I think I like it—but we will see" (Charles E. Feinberg Collection
of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C.). [back]