Camden NJ—US America1
July 28 '91
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]