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Walt Whitman to Dr. John Johnston, 28 July 1891

God bless the church & branch of the church (with candelabras blazing more fervidly than any) that is planted & grown in Bolton!2 I have rec'd Dr Bucke's3 letter & acc't of y'r reception there & thank you all, f'm the bottom of my heart.4 Things go on with me—I sit up & read & eat, but little or no zest—suppose you & dear J W W[allace]5 have rec'd the tomb6 photos I sent—best love to you both, & all the friends—

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 Lancashire | England. It is postmarked: Camden, N.J. | Jul 28 | 8 PM | 91; Philadelphia, Pa. | Jul 28 | 11 PM | Paid. [back]
  • 2. Whitman is referring to the "Bolton College" group of Whitman admirers located in Bolton, England. Founded by Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927) and James William Wallace (1853–1926), the group corresponded with Whitman and Horace Traubel throughout the final years of the poet's life. 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). 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]
  • 3. 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]
  • 4. See Bucke's July 18, 1891 letter to Whitman. This letter gives a detailed account of nineteenth-century sentimental camaraderie. In the middle of the reception in honor of Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke's visit to Bolton, the boys sang a song to the tune of "The March of the Men of Harlech," a Welsh national air. Wentworth Dixon, a lawyer's clerk and member of the Bolton College of Whitman admirers, composed the lyrics to the song, which welcomed Bucke to England and praised Whitman. In a postscript to the letter, Bucke observed: "If it were ever possible for you to come to England the fellows would go clean crazy about you." Horace Traubel sent reports of the event to the Camden Post on August 1 and 14. Traubel's article "Over-Sea Greeting. Walt Whitman's Fame Abroad" was published on the front page of the Camden Post on August 1, 1891. The article includes an account of Dr. John Johnston's visit to Whitman in the summer of 1890. Traubel reprints letters from Johnston and James W. Wallace—co-founders of the Bolton College of Whitman admireres—to Whitman and letters from Bucke to Whitman that describe Bucke's own time in England in July and August 1891. Traubel's article "Walt Whitman Abroad" was published in the Post on August 7, and describes the conclusion of Bucke's visit to Bolton. For Wallace's and Johnston's reactions to these pieces, see the letter from Wallace to Whitman on August 14, 1891 and from Johnston to Whitman of August 22, 1891. [back]
  • 5. 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]
  • 6. In his final years, Whitman designed an elaborate granite tomb, which P. Reinhalter & Co. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built for the poet in Harleigh Cemetery in Camden, New Jersey. The tomb cost $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]
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