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Camden1
PM Oct: 23 '90
Dear Doctor & Dear Horace2
A dark cloudy rainy forenoon & probably day on thro'out here—I am feeling
pretty well—warm & comfortable enough—sent Warry3
down to the bank & deposited $930.65—(Ain't
that enough to take y'r breaths away both of you)—W has gone over to
Phila. to give word to Dr Thomas,4 the oculist & to take my
aged white hat (25 yr's old & more) to be done over, if possible—Have
rec'd a handsome printed copy (I suppose you get one there in London) of R G
I's5 lecture complete,6 &
have just read it
through, & it expands, deepens, satisfies & explains itself splendidly &
more & more—it is a poem & the finest at that of itself—one of
its best charms to me is a certain careless handling like Nature's—or the
flowing of water—I am more yet desirous of the little book the three opinions (Sarrazin's,7 the
Irishman,8 & Ingersolls)9—Had
a fair night—relish'd my breakfast, & have taken a bath
Good times to you both—
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. Bucke 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). Horace L. Traubel (1858–1919), an American
essayist, poet, and magazine publisher, is best remembered as the literary
executor and biographer of Walt Whitman. During the mid-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).
Notes
- 1. This letter is addressed: Dr
Bucke | Asylum | London | Ontario | Canada. It is postmarked: (?) | Oct 24 | 6
AM | 90. [back]
- 2. On October 21, 1890 at
Horticultural Hall in Philadelphia, Robert Ingersoll delivered a lecture in
honor of Walt Whitman titled Liberty in Literature.
Testimonial to Walt Whitman. Whitman recorded in his Commonplace Book
that the lecture was "a noble, (very eulogistic to WW & L of G) eloquent
speech, well responded to by the audience" and the speech itself was published
in New York by the Truth Seeker Company in 1890 (Whitman's Commonplace Book
[Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919,
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.]). Following the lecture event, Horace
Traubel went to Canada with Bucke. [back]
- 3. Frank Warren Fritzinger
(1867–1899), known as "Warry," took Edward Wilkins's place as Whitman's
nurse, beginning in October 1889. Fritzinger and his brother Harry were the sons
of Henry Whireman Fritzinger (about 1828–1881), a former sea captain who
went blind, and Almira E. Fritzinger. Following Henry Sr.'s death, Warren and
his brother—having lost both parents—became wards of Mary O. Davis,
Whitman's housekeeper, who had also taken care of the sea captain and who
inherited part of his estate. A picture of Warry is displayed in the May 1891
New England Magazine (278). See Joann P. Krieg, "Fritzinger, Frederick Warren (1866–1899),"
Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998), 240. [back]
- 4. Dr. Thomas was an
oculist who had visited the poet on October 25, 1890; he examined Whitman and
was to assist the poet in obtaining "suitable glasses." See Whitman's letter to
Bucke of October 26, 1890. [back]
- 5. 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]
- 6. On October 21, 1890, at
Horticultural Hall in Philadelphia, Robert Ingersoll delivered a lecture in
honor of Walt Whitman titled Liberty in Literature.
Testimonial to Walt Whitman. Whitman recorded in his Commonplace Book
that the lecture was "a noble, (very eulogistic to WW & L of G) eloquent
speech, well responded to by the audience," and the speech itself was published
in New York by the Truth Seeker Company in 1890 (Whitman's Commonplace Book
[Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919,
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.]). [back]
- 7. Gabriel Sarrazin (1853–1935)
was a translator and poet from France who commented positively not only on
Whitman's work but also on Poe's. Whitman later corresponded with Sarrazin and
apparently liked the critic's work on Leaves of
Grass—Whitman even had Sarrazin's chapter on his book translated
twice. For more on Sarrazin, see Carmine Sarracino, "Sarrazin, Gabriel (1853–1935)," Walt Whitman:
An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 8. Thomas William Hazen Rolleston
(1857–1920) was an Irish poet and journalist. After attending college in
Dublin, he moved to Germany for a period of time. He wrote to Whitman
frequently, beginning in 1880, and later produced with Karl Knortz the first
book-length translation of Whitman's poetry into German. In 1889, the collection
Grashalme: Gedichte [Leaves of
Grass: Poems] was published by Verlags-Magazin in Zurich, Switzerland.
See Walter Grünzweig, Constructing the German Walt Whitman (Iowa
City: University of Iowa Press, 1995). For more information on Rolleston, see
Walter Grünzweig, "Rolleston, Thomas William Hazen (1857–1920)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D.
Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 9. At this time, Whitman was
planning to include an appendix to his Good-bye My Fancy
that would include essays by the French poet and translator Gabriel Sarrazin,
the Irish poet and journalist Thomas William Hazen Rolleston, and the orator
Colonel Robert Ingersoll, but he later abandoned the appendix due to pressure
from Bucke and Horace Traubel. See The Correspondence,
ed. Edwin Haviland Miller [New York: New York UP, 1969], 5:122n24. See also the
letter from Whitman to Bucke of June 11,
1891. [back]