Camden
Noon
July 24 '881
Better quite perceptibly—fluctuating considerable, with bad days or
hours—but a general and prevailing improvement—
—I have put together the Elias Hicks2 fragments & last night sent off the "paper" to
the printer—not knowing how it will look in print—but with some fear
& trembling—then three or so pages (all done now) on George Fox3—evolutionary on the E[lias] H[icks]
piece—& the Nov.
Boughs4 will be done—will
make from 120 to 130 (or possibly 135) pages—(those solid long primer pages
eat up the copy at a terribly rate!)—I have not worried at it—& do
not5—indeed it has probably been more benefit to me than hurt—I have been
unspeakably helped by Horace Traubel6—& by the best printers I have ever
yet had—The Century people have just sent me again
my Army Hospitals & Cases
proof7—I judge it is intended for the October number—bowel movements
continue every day or other day—I take no drugs at all—have not moved
from my room yet—keep good spirits—young Dr. Mitchell8 has just
come—weather pleasant continued—warmish but I am satisfied—Tom Harned9 comes every day, often bringing his nice always welcome children—
2 pm—y'rs of 22d has come—I have enjoy'd a partial wash
Walt Whitman
I send you proof pp 97 to 104 inclusive10—as I understand you have all preceding—
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
to: Dr R M Bucke | Asylum | London | Ontario | Canada. It is postmarked: Camden,
N.J. | Jul 24 | 8 PM | 88. [back]
- 2. 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]
- 3. George Fox (1624–1691), an
English dissenter, was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, a group
that came to be known as Quakers. [back]
- 4. Whitman's November Boughs was published in October 1888 by Philadelphia
publisher David McKay. For more information on the book, see James E. Barcus
Jr., "November Boughs [1888]," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 5. On July 22, 1888 Bucke had offered advice that
Whitman, characteristically, rejected: "I wish you wd hand over the balance of
the M.S. to Traubel to do the best he could with it. It is not good for you to
be trying at it and failing—you ought to let it go and forget it as soon
as possible. In your present state you would not do any good with the Hicks if
you did go through it. Let Traubel have it and tell him to alter nothing except
where necessary to make sense and connection, and let it be printed and the book
brought to an end." [back]
- 6. Horace L. Traubel (1858–1919)
was an American essayist, poet, and magazine publisher. He is best remembered as
the literary executor, biographer, and self-fashioned "spirit child" of Walt
Whitman. During the late 1880s and until Whitman's death in 1892, Traubel visited
the poet virtually every day and took thorough notes of their conversations,
which he later transcribed and published in three large volumes entitled With Walt Whitman in Camden (1906, 1908, & 1914).
After his death, Traubel left behind enough manuscripts for six more volumes of
the series, the final two of which were published in 1996. For more on Traubel,
see Ed Folsom, "Traubel, Horace L. [1858–1919]," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 7. Whitman could not publish
November Boughs (1888) until after the appearance of
"Army and Hospital Cases" in the October issue of Century
(see also Whitman's September 22, 1888, letter to
Richard Maurice Bucke). [back]
- 8. During Dr. William
Osler's absence, beginning on July 8, Whitman was attended by Dr. J. K.
Mitchell, son of S. Weir Mitchell (Horace Traubel, With Walt
Whitman in Camden, Sunday, July 8, 1888). For Whitman's opinion of the young man, see
Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Thursday, July 12, 1888. [back]
- 9. Thomas Biggs Harned
(1851–1921) was one of Whitman's literary executors. Harned was a lawyer
in Philadelphia and, having married Augusta Anna Traubel (1856–1914), was
Horace Traubel's brother-in-law. For more on him, see Dena Mattausch, "Harned, Thomas Biggs (1851–1921)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). For more on his relationship with Whitman, see
Thomas Biggs Harned, Memoirs of Thomas B. Harned, Walt
Whitman's Friend and Literary Executor, ed. Peter Van Egmond (Hartford:
Transcendental Books, 1972). [back]
- 10. Whitman was at this time
reading proofs for November Boughs and asking friends to
read them as well. [back]