Walt Whitman to Dr. John Johnston, 8–9 July 1891

Camden N J—U S America1 noon July 8 '91

Nothing very new or different in my condition—relish'd quite a hearty breakfast. Lassitude & head ache. Dr Bucke2 must have started this mn'g early in SS Britannic3 f'm N Y4 & ought to be due in Eng: 17th July ab't—all well—Y'r copies on card of "sculptor's profile" (very good) rec'd5—(if you print any more try a gray ink instead of the jet black & see what comes of it)—the beautiful sketches6 of Rivington &c: rec'd f'm J W Wallace7 & A H Cooper8—best thanks—

July 9—P M—Y'r & J W W's letters rec'd9 & welcom'd this forenoon—also word f'm Dr B f'm Britannic N Y early yesterday mn'g10 (he rec'd y'r cable message there & then)—I am getting along fairly considering (thankful for negatives & small reliefs)—again I inform you the birth-day supper acc't is to be in August11 Lippincott12 (it was my mistake ab't the July one)—have rec'd proof of the tomb13 picture, like it pretty well—shall probably get some soon & of course will send you one—O'Donovan14 (who is sculping me,15 for a bronze) was here yesterday & to-day taking notes, we will see what it all comes to—O'D himself is a fine fellow, splendid magnetic fellow—Mrs: Davis16 just comes in (f'm a small outing) to bring me some fine loaf sugar & some lemons—Have you rec'd the well tied package of picts:17 for you?

Walt Whitman

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Notes

• 1. This letter is addressed: Dr Johnston | 54 Manchester road | Bolton | Lancashire | England It is postmarked: Camden, N.J. | Jul 9 | 8 PM | 91. [back]
• 2. 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). [back]
• 3. The SS Britannic was a transatlantic ocean liner that traveled the Liverpool-New York City route from 1874 to 1899. [back]
• 4. 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]
• 5. Whitman is referring to Johnston's copies of this profile portrait, which may have been taken by the sculptor and educator Samuel Murray (1869–1941) or his teacher and associate Thomas Eakins in 1891. [back]
• 6. On June 19, 1891, Bolton architect James W. Wallace sent to Whitman four watercolor sketches of Rivington by the English landscape artist Alfred Heaton Cooper (1863–1929). In a postscript he wrote "If Traubel fancies any of them I shall be glad to arrange with Cooper for a painting . . . I wanted to send T. something & can think of nothing better." This picture of the lakes at Rivington, near Bolton, was commissioned by the members of the Bolton Whitman Fellowship for presentation to Horace and Anne Traubel in 1892. Cooper, then residing in Bolton, was a friend of Wallace and Johnston. Cooper later gained fame for his Lakeland paintings and book illustrations. In 1948 Anne Traubel presented the picture to the Bolton Public Libraries as being of special interest to the Bolton Whitman Fellowship. [back]
• 7. 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]
• 8. On June 16–17, 1891, Wallace reported to Whitman that "an admirer of yours," the artist A. H. Cooper (1863–1929), was making sketches of the countryside about County Borough of Bolton (England) Public Libraries, and on June 19 he described in detail the four drawings. [back]
• 9. Whitman may be referring to Wallace's letters of June 23, 1891 and June 26, 1891. [back]
• 10. See Bucke's cablegram to Whitman from the Britannic of July 8, 1891. As Whitman stated in this letter to Dr. John Johnston, Bucke confirms in his cablegram to Whitman: "I have this moment received a cablegram from Johnston & Wallace of Bolton to say that they will write me to Queenstown." [back]
• 11. Whitman is referring to Horace Traubel's "Walt Whitman's Birthday, May 31, 1891," an article that would be 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]
• 12. Lippincott's Monthly Magazine was a literary magazine published in Philadelphia from 1868 to 1915. Joseph Marshall Stoddart was the editor of the magazine from 1886 to 1894, and he frequently published material by and about Whitman. For more information on Whitman's numerous publications here, see Susan Belasco, "Lippincott's Magazine." [back]
• 13. Whitman was making plans to be buried in Harleigh Cemetery, in Camden, New Jersey, in an elaborate granite tomb that he designed. Reinhalter and Company of Philadelphia built the tomb, at a cost of $4,000. Whitman covered a portion of these costs with money that his Boston friends had raised so that the poet could purchase a summer cottage; the remaining balance was paid by Whitman's literary executor, Thomas Harned. For more information on the cemetery and Whitman's tomb, see See Geoffrey M. Still, "Harleigh Cemetery," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
• 14. William Rudolph O'Donovan (1844–1920) was an American sculptor. He was an associate of American artist Thomas Eakins and accompanied Eakins to Whitman's Camden home and fashioned a large bust of Whitman. Whitman liked O'Donovan but did not care for the bust, which he found "too hunched" and the head "too broad" (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Wednesday, July 15, 1891). [back]
• 15. In May 1891, the sculptor and educator Samuel Murray (1869–1941) accompanied another sculptor, William O'Donovan (1844–1920) of New York, to Whitman's home in Camden, New Jersey. Murray photographed Whitman in a profile portrait, which Whitman referred to as "the most audacious thing in its line ever taken" in his May 23, 1891, letter to James W. Wallace. He again commented on the portrait's "audacity" (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Tuesday, May 19, 1891) and proudly described it as "an artist's picture in the best sense" (With Walt Whitman in Camden, Saturday, May 23, 1891). [back]
• 16. Mary Oakes Davis (1837 or 1838–1908) was Whitman's housekeeper. For more, see Carol J. Singley, "Davis, Mary Oakes (1837 or 1838–1908)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
• 17. Whitman had planned to publish a group of photographs of himself, but it was never issued. He often discussed the project, which he considered calling "Portraits from life of Walt Whitman," with Horace Traubel. See, for example, Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Sunday, August 4, 1889. Both Johnston and Wallace had ordered copies of these portraits from Whitman. See Johnston's letter to Whitman of June 10, 1891. Whitman apparently sent instead some of the photos he had been thinking about using in the never-realized "Portraits from Life." [back]