Camden NJ—U S America1
Dec: 1 '91
Y'rs rec'd—also J W W[allace]'s2—thanks—(I can see you all with y'r
home-reception to dear W. & the jolly time—so mote it be)3—Dr
B[ucke]4 & H T[raubel]5 well—sunny & cold
weather—bad & depress'd
physical condition night & day—no hour without suffering—get a new
book "Modern Authors, by Arthur Lynch,6 pub'd London, Ward & Downey, 12
York St. Covent Garden."7
W W
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 posmarked:
Camden, N.J. | Dec 1 | 6 PM | (?). [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. Johnston's letter of November 18, 1891 provided a sixteen-page report of
Wallace's arrival in Bolton following his trip to visit Whitman in Camden and
the Canadian physician Richard Maurice Bucke in London, Ontario, Canada. Whitman
also mentions having received a letter from Wallace; Wallace had written to the
poet on November 14, 1891 and November 20, 1891. [back]
- 4. 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]
- 5. 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]
- 6. Arthur Lynch
(1861–1934) was a writer and politician who served twice in the UK House
of Commons. Born in Australia to an Irish father and Scottish mother, Lynch was
educated at the University of Melbourne and worked as a civil engineer before
relocating to Galway, Ireland. During the Second Boer War, he raised an Irish
brigade that fought against the Crown; as a result, he was convicted of treason,
sentenced to death, and subsequently pardoned. Upon his release, Lynch attended
St. Mary's Hospital Medical School and became a general practitioner. Lynch
wrote prolifically in several genres, including fiction, poetry, and philosophy;
the "little book" alluded to in this letter may refer to Lynch's Modern Authors: A Review and a Forecast (London: Ward and
Downey, 1891). The book devotes much attention to Whitman, and Lynch writes that
Whitman "has the true poet's largeness of soul" but "lacks a little the singing
faculty, though the divine afflatus at his best carries him safely along" (41).
For more information on Lynch, see Stephen Due, "Arthur Lynch: Parliamentarian,
Physician and Author," Journal of Medical Biography 7.2
(May 1999), 93–99. [back]
- 7. Whitman is referring to Modern Authors: A Review and a Forecast (London: Ward and
Downey, 1891) by the English writer and politician Arthur Lynch
(1861–1934). The book devotes much attention to Whitman, and Lynch writes
that Whitman "has the true poet's largeness of soul" but "lacks a little the
singing faculty, though the divine afflatus at his best carries him safely
along" (41). For more information on Lynch, see Stephen Due, "Arthur Lynch:
Parliamentarian, Physician and Author," Journal of Medical
Biography 7.2. (May 1999), 93–99. [back]