Camden1
1.30 P M
Dec: 21 '88
I scribble away as perhaps you care to hear even minor affairs—sent off Mrs:
O'C[onnor]'s2 letter to me describing the situation wh' you
must have rec'd—My poor dear friend Wm O'C3—my
brother in affliction—I have been out & had a thorough bath in the tub,
(with Ed's4 assistance,) & complete clothe change, specially
under—
Saturday 22d—9 a m—Feeling pretty well—&
shall tackle my breakfast presently, had a fair night—sent big books5 off, (by
express) to Boston yesterday afternoon6 to Kennedy,7 Baxter,8 Mrs. Fairchild,9 Harland10 & Frank Sanborn,11 (for Christmas
presents)—yours of 20th rec'd this morning—12
Noon—cold & bright—bowel movement,
decided—(first in four days)—my brother George13
comes every day—bro't from Lou14 a good quilted lap robe to
go over my knees & feet as I sit, very useful & acceptable—
Evn'g—Well I believe this has been, upon the whole, the
nearest approximation for a tolerable day for six months and more—I am
fearfully weak yet but the feeling & the comparative ease
are like something toward sanity—I may fall back—but O that I can keep
up the standard of to-day, moderate as it is—had my mutton-broth & couple
of good raw oysters for my supper, 4¾ (no dinner)—as it is I am sitting
by the wood fire—comfortable—Ed is snoozing on the couch—every
thing is quiet—Christmas is near at hand & seems to be made extra much of
here—Hope it will be a merry one with you all—
Walt Whitman
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. | Dec 22 | 8 PM | 88. [back]
- 2. Ellen M. "Nelly" O'Connor (1830–1913) was the
wife of William D. O'Connor (1832–1889), one of Whitman's staunchest
defenders. Before marrying William, Ellen Tarr was active in the antislavery and
women's rights movements as a contributor to the Liberator and to a women's rights newspaper Una. Whitman dined with the O'Connors frequently during his Washington
years. Though Whitman and William O'Connor would temporarily break off their
friendship in late 1872 over Reconstruction policies with regard to emancipated
African Americans, Ellen would remain friendly with Whitman. The correspondence
between Whitman and Ellen is almost as voluminous as the poet's correspondence
with William. Three years after William O'Connor's death, Ellen married the
Providence businessman Albert Calder. For more on Whitman's relationship with the O'Connors, see Dashae
E. Lott, "O'Connor, William Douglas [1832–1889]" and Lott's "O'Connor (Calder),
Ellen ('Nelly') M. Tarr (1830–1913)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. 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]
- 4. 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]
- 5. 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]
- 6. Kennedy received the volumes
and delivered them as Whitman requested. See Kennedy's letter to Whitman of December 25, 1888. [back]
- 7. William Sloane Kennedy
(1850–1929) was on the staff of the Philadelphia American and the Boston Transcript; he also
published biographies of Longfellow, Holmes, and Whittier (Dictionary of American Biography [New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1933], 336–337). Apparently Kennedy called on
the poet for the first time on November 21, 1880 (William Sloane Kennedy, Reminiscences of Walt Whitman [London: Alexander
Gardener, 1896], 1). Though Kennedy was to become a fierce defender of Whitman,
in his first published article he admitted reservations about the "coarse
indecencies of language" and protested that Whitman's ideal of democracy was
"too coarse and crude"; see The Californian, 3 (February
1881), 149–158. For more about Kennedy, see Katherine Reagan, "Kennedy, William Sloane (1850–1929)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 8. Sylvester Baxter (1850–1927)
was on the staff of the Boston Herald. Apparently he met
Whitman for the first time when the poet delivered his Lincoln address in Boston
in April, 1881; see Rufus A. Coleman, "Whitman and Trowbridge," PMLA 63 (1948), 268. Baxter wrote many newspaper columns
in praise of Whitman's writings, and in 1886 attempted to obtain a pension for
the poet. For more, see Christopher O. Griffin, "Baxter, Sylvester [1850–1927]," Walt Whitman:
An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 9. Elizabeth Fairchild was
the wife of Colonel Charles Fairchild, the president of a paper company, to whom
Whitman sent the Centennial Edition on March 2, 1876 (Whitman's Commonplace
Book, Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman,
1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). He mailed her husband a
copy of Progress in April, 1881, shortly after his visit
to Boston, where he probably met the Fairchilds for the first time (Commonplace
Book). [back]
- 10. 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). Whitman sometimes
misspells or is inconsistent in his spellings of the names of William Osler, his
doctor, and Hamlin Garland. He writes "Ostler" when he means "Osler" and refers
to Garland as "Harland." [back]
- 11. Franklin B. Sanborn
(1831–1917) was an abolitionist and a friend of John Brown. In 1860, when
he was tried in Boston because of his refusal to testify before a committee of
the U.S. Senate, Whitman was in the courtroom (Gay Wilson Allen, The Solitary Singer [New York: Macmillan, 1955], 242). He
reviewed Drum-Taps in the Boston
Commonwealth on February 24, 1866. He was editor of the Springfield
Republican from 1868 to 1872, and was the author of books dealing with
his friends Emerson, Thoreau, and Alcott. "A Visit to the Good Gray Poet"
appeared without Sanborn's name in the Springfield
Republican on April 19, 1876. For more on Sanborn, see Linda K. Walker,
"Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin (Frank) (1831–1917)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 12. See Bucke's letter to
Whitman of December 20, 1888. [back]
- 13. George Washington Whitman (1829–1901) was the
sixth child of Louisa Van Velsor Whitman and ten years Walt Whitman's junior.
George enlisted in 1861 and remained on active duty until the end of the Civil
War. He was wounded in the First Battle of Fredericksburg (December 1862) and
was taken prisoner during the Battle of Poplar Grove (September 1864). As a
Civil War correspondent, Walt wrote warmly about George's service, such as in
"Our Brooklyn Boys in the War" (January 5,
1863); "A Brooklyn Soldier, and a Noble One"
(January 19, 1865); "Return of a Brooklyn Veteran"
(March 12, 1865); and "Our Veterans Mustering Out"
(August 5, 1865). After the war, George returned to Brooklyn and began building
houses on speculation, with partner Mr. Smith and later a mason named French.
George also took a position as inspector of pipes in Brooklyn and Camden. Walt
and George lived together for over a decade in Camden, but when Walt decided not
to move with George and his wife Louisa in 1884, a rift occurred that was
ultimately not mended before Walt's 1892 death. For more information on George
Washington Whitman, see Martin G. Murray, "Whitman, George Washington," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 14. Whitman's brother George's
wife was Louisa Orr Haslam (1842–1892), called "Loo" or "Lou." [back]