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Walt Whitman to Dr. John Johnston, 16–17 August 1891

Warm yet but not as severe—It has pull'd me down badly, but keep around much as usual—sitting here, sunset—

Aug: 17—Rumor (not confirmed) that Whittier2 is severely ill—Y'r letter of leaving & return to B[olton] rec'd.3—A bad night (insomnia &c:) last—W'd you (or w'd Wallace4) care for the W W clay head at 40 Grosvenor r'd London?5 If so I will send an order to give it you—

Walt Whitman

Correspondent:
Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927) of Annan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, was a physician, photographer, and avid cyclist. Johnston was trained in Edinburgh and served as a hospital surgeon in West Bromwich for two years before moving to Bolton, England, in 1876. Johnston worked as a general practitioner in Bolton and as an instructor of ambulance classes for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways. He served at Whalley Military Hospital during World War I and became Medical Superintendent of Townley's Hospital in 1917 (John Anson, "Bolton's Illustrious Doctor Johnston—a man of many talents," Bolton News [March 28, 2021]; Paul Salveson, Moorlands, Memories, and Reflections: A Centenary Celebration of Allen Clarke's Moorlands and Memories [Lancashire Loominary, 2020]). Johnston, along with the architect James W. Wallace, founded the "Bolton College" of English admirers of the poet. Johnston and Wallace corresponded with Whitman and with Horace Traubel and other members of the Whitman circle in the United States, and they separately visited the poet and published memoirs of their trips in John Johnston and James William Wallace, Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 by Two Lancashire Friends (London: Allen and Unwin, 1917). For more information on Johnston, see Larry D. Griffin, "Johnston, Dr. John (1852–1927)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).


Notes

  • 1. This letter is addressed: Dr Johnston | 54 Manchester road | Bolton | Lancaster England. It is postmarked: Camden, N.J. | Aug 17 | 12 M | 91. [back]
  • 2. John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) was an American poet who is remembered as one of the most popular of the Fireside Poets and for his anti-slavery writings. He was the author of numerous collections of poetry, including Maud Muller (1860) and Snow-Bound (1866). As a poet, he employed traditional forms and meters, and, not surprisingly, he was not an admirer of Whitman's unconventional prosody. For Whitman's view of Whittier, see the poet's numerous comments throughout the nine volumes of Horace Traubel's With Walt Whitman in Camden (various publishers: 1906–1996) and Whitman's "My Tribute to Four Poets," in Specimen Days (Philadelphia: Rees Welsh & Co., 1882–'83), 180–181. [back]
  • 3. Johnston and his wife and brother had recently traveled to the Isle of Man. See Johnston's letter of August 6–7, 1891, for his description of their return to Bolton. [back]
  • 4. James William Wallace (1853–1926), of Bolton, England, was an architect and great admirer of Whitman. Wallace, along with Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927), a physician in Bolton, founded the "Bolton College" of English admirers of the poet. Johnston and Wallace corresponded with Whitman and with Horace Traubel and other members of the Whitman circle in the United States, and they separately visited the poet and published memoirs of their trips in John Johnston and James William Wallace, Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 by Two Lancashire Friends (London: Allen and Unwin, 1917). For more information on Wallace, see Larry D. Griffin, "Wallace, James William (1853–1926)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
  • 5. Whitman is referring to the bust by Sidney Morse that he sent to the minister Robert Pearsall Smith in September, 1887; see Whitman's letter to Smith of September 12, 1887, and Whitman's letter to Richard Maurice Bucke of October 20, 1891. Dr. Johnston replied on August 29: "I would do much more than care for it—I would prize it very, very highly & would give it a place of honour in my home second to none of my possessions." [back]
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