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Camden
P M Oct: 10 '90
Nothing very different with me—fair enough—Did I tell you I sent off "Old
Poets"1 (5 pages—maybe minus) to N A Rev2?—(I rec'd yesterday mn'g a
telegram3 f'm them soliciting it)—I guess the Ing:4
enterprise5 continues to move well—Horace6 is nearer excited than I ever saw him—I was out an hour in
wheel-chair7 yesterday—am very susceptible to the
jolting—always come back with a confused, topsy-turvy head-achy
feeling—sunny to-day—Enclose two MSS the O'C8
preface9 & the little
Shakspere
bit,10 (both w'd take prize for dilapitated
printer's copy)—we are surfeited with horrible murder cases &
such here—there visits f'm the g't miners, engineers, & the French
prince—I welcome 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. On October 3, 1890, Whitman accepted the invitation to write for The North American Review. He sent them "Old Poets," the
first of a two-part contribution, on October 9,
1890. [back]
- 2. The North
American Review was the first literary magazine in the United States.
The journalist Charles Allen Thorndike Rice (1851–1889) edited and
published the magazine in New York from 1876 until his death. After Rice's
death, Lloyd Bryce became owner and editor, and he held these positions at the
time of Rideing's letter. [back]
- 3. See William H. Rideing's
telegram of October 9, 1890. [back]
- 4. Robert "Bob" Green Ingersoll
(1833–1899) was a Civil War veteran and an orator of the post-Civil War
era, known for his support of agnosticism. Ingersoll was a friend of Whitman,
who considered Ingersoll the greatest orator of his time. Whitman said to Horace
Traubel, "It should not be surprising that I am drawn to Ingersoll, for he is
Leaves of Grass. He lives, embodies, the
individuality I preach. I see in Bob the noblest
specimen—American-flavored—pure out of the soil, spreading, giving,
demanding light" (Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden,
Wednesday, March 25, 1891). The feeling was mutual. Upon Whitman's
death in 1892, Ingersoll delivered the eulogy at the poet's funeral. The eulogy
was published to great acclaim and is considered a classic panegyric (see
Phyllis Theroux, The Book of Eulogies [New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1997], 30). [back]
- 5. Whitman is referring to the
lecture in his honor, which would take place on October 21 at Philadelphia's
Horticultural Hall. The New York jeweler John H. Johnston and the Canadian
physician Richard Maurice Bucke planned the event, and the orator and agnostic
Robert Ingersoll delivered the lecture: "Liberty in
Literature. Testimonial to Walt Whitman." See Ingersoll's October 12 and October
20 letters to Whitman. [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. Horace Traubel and Ed
Wilkins, Whitman's nurse, went to Philadelphia to purchase a wheeled chair for
the poet that would allow him to be "pull'd or push'd" outdoors. See Whitman's
letter to William Sloane Kennedy of May 8,
1889. [back]
- 8. 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]
- 9. On May 29, 1890, Ellen O'Connor asked Whitman to write a preface for a
collection of tales by her husband, the late William Douglas O'Connor, which she
hoped to publish—The Brazen Android and Other Tales
(later entitled Three Tales). After the poet's approval
was conveyed to her through Bucke, Mrs. O'Connor wrote on June 1, 1890: "Your name & William's will be
associated in many ways, & this loving word from you will be a comfort to me
for all time." Not having heard directly from him, she wrote about the preface
once more on June 30, 1890. Whitman enclosed the
preface with his letter to Mrs. O'Connor of September
25, 1890. [back]
- 10. Jonathan Trumbull
published "Walt Whitman's View of Shakspere" in Poet-lore, 2 (July 1890), 368–371. Whitman's reply, "Shakspere for
America," appeared in Poet-lore 2 (October 1890),
492–493, and was reprinted in The Critic on
September 27. [back]