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Camden N J—U S America1
Sunday aft: July 26 '91
Quite tolerable wea'r—no oppressive heat—& makes me easier—fair voidance
bowel action (wh' is the g't desideratum)—nothing very new—went
out by horse & wagon two hours last of yest: afternoon to the north region (Pea shore)
edge of water side—very primitive, cheap,
&c. Am not writing any thing for print—Suppose you easily get the Lip
for Aug.2 there—It circulates quietly quite extensively, here,
the Pacific region & in Australia, & this art: will do my cause g't
good. (Horace3 puts his best f't foremost)—D McKay4
is out west on a trade jaunt5—quite a supper at 5—boil'd clams,
onions & potatoes—(a little more & appetite w'd be good)—
July 27 Monday—Fine sunny, not hot—am fairly—some head ache—no word
f'm you, yet (only the Bolton cable6)—all going well here—am
sitting quietly in shirt sleeves by window—
Aff: remembrances to Mr Smith,7 & to
Mary,8 Alys,9 Logan10 &
Mr C11—to all other friends also—
Walt Whitman
This is the 5th I have sent you to Mr Costelloe's care12—
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July 26
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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:
Dr Bucke | care Mr Costelloe | 40 Grosvenor road | the Embankment | London |
England. It is postmarked: Camden, N.J. | Jul 27 | 3 PM | 91; Philadelphia, PA |
Jul 27 | 6PM | Paid; 91; London [illegible] W | 7 P | AUG | 91. Whitman wrote this letter on stationery
printed with the following notice from the Boston Evening
Transcript: "From the Boston Eve'g Transcript,
May 7, '91.—The Epictetus saying, as given by Walt Whitman in his
own quite utterly dilapidated physical case is, a 'little spark of soul dragging
a great lummux of corpse-body clumsily to and fro around.'" [back]
- 2. Horace Traubel's article
"Walt Whitman's Birthday, May 31, 1891," was published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in August 1891. It was a detailed
account of Whitman's seventy-second (and last) birthday, which was celebrated
with friends at the poet's home on Mickle Street. [back]
- 3. 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]
- 4. David McKay (1860–1918) took
over Philadelphia-based publisher Rees Welsh's bookselling and publishing
businesses in 1881–82. McKay and Rees Welsh published the 1881 edition of
Leaves of Grass after opposition from the Boston
District Attorney prompted James R. Osgood & Company of Boston, the original publisher,
to withdraw. McKay also went on to publish Specimen Days &
Collect, November Boughs, Gems
from Walt Whitman, Complete Prose Works,
and the final Leaves of Grass, the so-called deathbed edition. For
more information about McKay, see Joel Myerson, "McKay, David (1860–1918)," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 5. McKay ordered six copies
of Complete Poems & Prose (Whitman's "big book") on
July 21, 1891. On August 8 there were on hand
181 copies of the big book and 175 of the 300 copies of the pocket-book edition
of Leaves of Grass that was printed in honor of Whitman's
70th birthday, on May 31, 1889, through special arrangement with Frederick
Oldach (Whitman's Commonplace Book, Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers
of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). [back]
- 6. During the months of July
and August 1891, Bucke traveled in England in an attempt to establish a foreign
market for the gas and fluid meter he was developing with his brother-in-law
William Gurd. On the trip, he spent time with Dr. John Johnston and James W.
Wallace, the co-founders of the Bolton College of Whitman admirers. Bucke also
visited the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. [back]
- 7. Robert Pearsall Smith
(1827–1898) was a Quaker who became an evangelical minister associated
with the "Holiness movement." He was also a writer and businessman. Whitman
often stayed at his Philadelphia home, where the poet became friendly with the
Smith children—Mary, Logan, and Alys. For more information about Smith,
see Christina Davey, "Smith, Robert Pearsall (1827–1898)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 8. Mary Whitall Smith Costelloe
(1864–1945) was a political activist, art historian, and critic, whom
Whitman once called his "staunchest living woman friend." For more information
about Costelloe, see Christina Davey, "Costelloe, Mary Whitall Smith (1864–1945)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D.
Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 9. Alyssa ("Alys") Whitall Pearsall
Smith (1867–1951) was born in Philadelphia and became a Quaker relief
organizer. She attended Bryn Mawr College and was a graduate of the class of
1890. She and her family lived in Britain for two years during her childhood and
again beginning in 1888. She married the philosopher Bertrand Russell in 1894;
the couple later separated, and they divorced in 1921. Smith also served as the
chair of a society committee that set up the "Mothers and Babies Welcome" (the
St Pancras School for Mothers) in London in 1907; this health center, dedicated
to reducing the infant mortality rate, provided a range of medical and
educational services for women. Smith was the daughter of Robert Pearsall and
Hannah Whitall Smith, and she was the sister of Mary Whitall Smith
(1864–1945), the political activist, art historian, and critic, whom
Whitman once called his "staunchest living woman friend." [back]
- 10. Logan Pearsall Smith
(1865–1946) was an essayist and literary critic. He was the son of Robert
Pearsall Smith, a minister and writer who befriended Whitman, and he was the
brother of Mary Whitall Smith Costelloe, one of Whitman's most avid followers.
For more information on Logan, see Christina Davey, "Smith, Logan Pearsall (1865–1946)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 11. Benjamin Francis Conn ("Frank")
Costelloe (1854–1899), Mary Costelloe's first husband, was an English
barrister and Liberal Party politician. [back]
- 12. Whitman has written this
postscript at the top of the page. [back]