Walt Whitman to Richard Maurice Bucke, 18 September 1891

About This Item

Title: Walt Whitman to Richard Maurice Bucke, 18 September 1891
Date: September 18, 1891
Creator(s): Walt Whitman
Whitman Archive ID: loc.08194
Source: The Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Transcribed from digital images or a microfilm reproduction of the original item. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.

Notes for this letter were created by Whitman Archive staff and/or were derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller, 6 vols. (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), and supplemented or updated by Whitman Archive staff.
Contributors to digital file: Cristin Noonan Amanda J. Axley Stephanie Blalock
Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to Richard Maurice Bucke, 18 September 1891." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 25 April 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
Source File: loc.08194.xml (TEI)

loc_tb.00018.jpg Camden N J1— Sept: 18 '91

J W W[allace]'s2 and y'r letters rec'd—thanks—full report of Bolton mt'g Aug: 24 rec'd f'm friends Shorrock3 and Dixon4 ("hold your horses, doctor")—the report with a little pruning, I think ought to go in the book5—am still held here indoors—long stretch of fine sunny weather cont'd—warm to–day, sweating me a little—good—Dr Longaker6 here yesterday—nothing specially different—had a fair night last—bowel movement yest:—

Walt Whitman

loc_tb.00017.jpg

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 | Asylum | London | Ontario | Canada. It is postmarked: Camden, N.J. | Sep 18 | 3 PM | 91; N.Y. | 9-18-91 | 11 PM; London | SP | [illegible] | 91 | Canada. [back]
2. 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]
3. Thomas Shorrock was a clerk in the Bolton police court. [back]
4. Wentworth Dixon (1855–1928) was a lawyer's clerk and a member of the "Bolton College" of Whitman admirers. He was also affiliated with the Labour Church, an organization whose socialist politics and working-class ideals were often informed by Whitman's work. Dixon communicated directly with Whitman only a few times, but we can see in his letters a profound sense of care for the poet's failing health, as well as genuine gratitude for Whitman's continued correspondence with the "Eagle Street College." See Dixon's letters to Whitman of June 13, 1891 and February 24, 1892. For more on Dixon and Whitman's Bolton disciples, see Paul Salveson, "Loving Comrades: Lancashire's Links to Walt Whitman," Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 14.2 (1996), 57–84. [back]
5. "The College Farewell to Dr Bucke and J. W. Wallace" summarized the speeches made on August 24 before the two men sailed. The main address by Bucke was a résumé of what he was later to express in Cosmic Consciousness (1905). Bucke sent his notes about the gathering to Horace Traubel on September 17 and asked that he edit them for inclusion in a projected volume of essays. Bucke and Traubel had already begun to make plans for a collected volume of writings by and about Whitman. The book, titled In Re Walt Whitman (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1893), was edited by Bucke, Traubel, and Thomas Harned (Whitman's three literary executors) and would not be published until 1893. Bucke quoted Whitman's sentence of approval to Traubel on September 21, 1891 (Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). [back]
6. Daniel Longaker (1858–1949) was a Philadelphia physician who specialized in obstetrics. He became Whitman's doctor in early 1891 and provided treatment during the poet's final illness. For more information, see Carol J. Singley, "Longaker, Dr. Daniel [1858–1949]," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R.LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]