Camden NJ1—
Sept: 16 1 P M '91
Perfect weather continued—am feeling fairly—oysters for my breakfast—am
getting the changed title & other pp: necessary for the (really, doubtless final)
ed'n L of G. 438 pp:2 & shall send you one, soon as ready, (probably two or three
weeks yet)—y'r letters rec'd3 (short but sweet)—J W W[allace]'s4
good letters5 rec'd too—expect T Williams6 & an
oculist Dr this afternoon—my eyes bothering—Horace7
well—faithful as ever—Did you ever send y'r book to Tennyson?8—I
just send you the Boston "Literary World" with notice of "Good-Bye"9—Did you get
the N Y "Critic" Sept 5?10 If not I can send you one—
5 P M—T C11 came with Dr Schweinitz oculist M D12—impress'd me favorably, made
a quite varied examination, result much more comforting than I anticipated (I have been
dreading blindness or close on it)—T C will get more propitious glasses—(with
these I have my sight blurs badly)—have had my supper with zest—appetite quite
good—The enc'd printed slip is f'm Bayard Taylor13 in an old
N Y Tribune14—the MS bit appears to be an acknowledgment sent
to me to Pall Mall Gaz[ette] nearly five y'rs ago (the Sir Edw'd
Malet fund sent me then)—But I must stop for the night is falling—I can't see—
Walt Whitman
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 (?) |
Sep 16 | 8 PM | 91. [back]
- 2. Whitman is referring to the
1891–1892 "deathbed" edition of Leaves of Grass.
See R.W. French, "Leaves of Grass, 1891–1892, Deathbed
Edition," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed.
J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing,
1998). [back]
- 3. Whitman is likely referring
to Bucke's letters dated September 11, 1891 and
September 13, 1891. [back]
- 4. 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]
- 5. Whitman is likely referring
to Wallace's letters dated September 11, 1891 and
September 13, 1891. [back]
- 6. Talcott Williams
(1849–1928) was associated with the New York Sun
and World as well as the Springfield Republican before he became the editor of the Philadelphia Press in 1879. His newspaper vigorously defended Whitman
in news articles and editorials after the Boston censorship of 1882. For more
information about Williams, see Philip W. Leon, "Williams, Talcott (1849–1928)," Walt Whitman:
An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 7. 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]
- 8. Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) succeeded
William Wordsworth as poet laureate of Great Britain in 1850. The intense male
friendship described in In Memoriam, which Tennyson wrote
after the death of his friend Arthur Henry Hallam, possibly influenced Whitman's
poetry. Whitman wrote to Tennyson in 1871 or late 1870, probably shortly after the
visit of Cyril Flower in December, 1870, but the letter is not extant (see Thomas Donaldson,
Walt Whitman the Man [New York: F. P.
Harper, 1896], 223). Tennyson's first letter to Whitman is dated July
12, 1871. Although Tennyson extended an invitation for Whitman
to visit England, Whitman never acted on the offer. [back]
- 9. Thirty-one poems from
Whitman's book Good-Bye My Fancy (1891) were later
printed as "Good-Bye my Fancy 2d Annex" to Leaves of
Grass (1891–1892), the last edition of Leaves
of Grass published before Whitman's death in March 1892. For more
information see Donald Barlow Stauffer, "'Good-Bye my Fancy' (Second Annex) (1891)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 10. Whitman is referring to
The Literary World, 22 (September 22, 1891), 305. He
is also referencing The Critic, which contained a flattering review of Good-bye My Fancy. [back]
- 11. As yet we have no information about
this person. [back]
- 12. Dr. George de Schweinitz
(1858–1938) was an expert opthamologist and educator who served as the
oculist to President Woodrow Wilson. When de Schweinitz passed away, a portion
of his estate was used to establish a chair of opthamology at the University of
Pennsylvania. For more on de Schweinitz, see his obituary, "Dr. De Schweinitz,
Eye Expert, Dies," New York Times (August 23, 1938), 17.
Dr. de Schweinitz's calling card is mounted in Whitman's Commonplace Book
(Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919,
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.), and on September
14, Talcott Williams had suggested that Whitman have his eyes
examined. [back]
- 13. Bayard Taylor (1825–1878),
translator of Goethe's Faust, journalist, and traveler,
sent his "Picture of St. John" to Whitman on November
12, 1866. He commended Whitman's "remarkable powers of expression" and
"deep and tender reverence for Man." His letter of December 2, 1866, was even more unreserved in its praise. Later,
Taylor's response to Whitman would change dramatically. Taylor used his
influence on the New York Tribune to turn it from a
supporter of Whitman and his work to a hostile critic. In The
Echo Club (2d ed., 1876 154–158, 168–169), Taylor
burlesqued Whitman's poetry. William Sloane Kennedy lists him among Whitman's
"Bitter and Relentless Foes and Villifiers"; see The Fight of
a Book for the World (West Yarmouth, MA: The Stonecroft Press, 1926),
288. See also the letter from Walt Whitman to Louisa Van Velsor Whitman of January 1, 1867. [back]
- 14. The references are
probably to one of Taylor's articles in 1876. [back]