Camden1
Saturday PM July 21 '88
Rather an easier day—the Doctor, young Mitchell,2 has
call'd— weather pleasant—bowel action very favorably for three
consecutive days —(no drugs)—Mrs: Stafford3 visited
me yesterday, very acceptable— broil'd or stewed chicken yesterday—&
this morning's breakfast—"Nov: Boughs" has stretch'd to 104 pages
corrected—If "Elias Hicks"4 fragments get into a paper it may reach to ab't
120—remain in good spirits—
Walt Whitman
the proofs &c don't hurt me—I don't worry them—the new nurse5
does fairly—I have rec'd word from Rhys67—y'rs of 19th just rec'd—
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:
Dr R M Bucke | Asylum | London | Ontario Canada. It is postmarked: Camden, N.J.
| Jul 21 | 8 PM | 88; Philadelphia | Jul | 21 | 9 PM | 1888 | Transit. [back]
- 2. Dr. John Kearsley Mitchell II
(1859–1935) was the son of S. Weir Mitchell, the noted American physician
and writer of historical fiction; the young Mitchell looked in on Whitman when
his regular physician, William Osler, was unavailable. Whitman was not overly
impressed with the Mitchells: "The young man Mitchell did not take me by
storm—he did not impress me. I start off with a prejudice against doctors
anyway. I know J. K.'s father somewhat—Weir: he is of the intellectual
type—a scholar, writer, and all that: very good—an adept: very
important in his sphere—a little bitter I should say—a little
bitter—touched just a touch by the frosts of culture, society,
worldliness—as how few are not!" (Horace Traubel, With
Walt Whitman in Camden, Thursday, July 12, 1888). [back]
- 3. Susan M. Lamb Stafford
(1833–1910) was the mother of Harry Stafford (1858–1918), who, in
1876, became a close friend of Whitman while working at the printing office of
the Camden New Republic. Whitman regularly visited the
Staffords at their family farm near Kirkwood, New Jersey. Whitman enjoyed the
atmosphere and tranquility that the farm provided and would often stay for weeks
at a time (see David G. Miller, "Stafford, George and Susan M.," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings [New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998], 685). [back]
- 4. Elias Hicks (1748–1830) was a
Quaker from Long Island whose controversial teachings led to a split in the
Religious Society of Friends in 1827, a division that was not resolved until
1955. Hicks had been a friend of Whitman's father and grandfather, and Whitman
himself was a supporter and proponent of Hicks's teachings, writing about him in
Specimen Days (see "Reminiscence of Elias Hicks") and November
Boughs (see "Elias Hicks, Notes (such as they are)"). For more on Hicks and his
influence on Whitman, see David S. Reynolds, Walt Whitman's
America (New York: Knopf, 1995), 37–39. [back]
- 5. Whitman described his nurse,
W. A. Musgrove, as "kind active & considerate all through" (See the letter
from Whitman to Bucke of November 3–4,
1888). [back]
- 6. 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]
- 7. On July 9–10 Rhys had informed Whitman of his
arrival in England. [back]