Postcard of 15th2 from you came to hand yesterday—very quiet here—guess it is much the same with you but am sorry to see that you still have only a poor time of it with your troublesome ailments—glad to see however that Horace3 who is with you so much fancies you are doing well—this goes to show that even if you suffer (as undoubtedly you do) your constitution is bearing up wonderfully well under it and will perhaps shake off some of it yet. I go to Toronto tuesday (day-after-tomorrow) to consult with the government in the case "Ross v. Bucke"4 Shall know then (I suppose) whether they are going to stand by me—guess they will—guess they must—but will tell you definitely when I know myself—we are all well—shoulder nearly all right again
Love to you R M BuckeCorrespondent:
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).