Camden1
Nov: 29 '90
Yr's & J W W[allace]'s2 kind letters
rec'd3—thanks—have sent the
L of G.to Rev: Mr: Johnstone4—Still
ab't the same—catarrhal bad head
and abdomen—cold & sunny weather—have been out at mid day an hour
in wheel chair5—Sad & gloomy days here—death of my brother T. J. W.6
at St Louis Missouri—
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. | Nov 30 | 5 PM | 90. [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. Whitman may be referring to
the November 15, 1890, letter from Johnston and
the November 18, 1890, letter from Wallace. [back]
- 4. Reverend Thomas Boston
Johnstone (1847–1902), originally from Scotland, was a Presbyterian
Minister living in Bolton, England. According to Whitman's Commonplace Book, the
poet mailed a copy of the pocket-book edition of Leaves of
Grass to Johnstone on this date (Commonplace Book, Charles E. Feinberg
Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.). Whitman had a limited pocket-book edition of Leaves of Grass printed in honor of his 70th birthday, on
May 31, 1889, through special arrangement with Frederick Oldach. Only 300 copies
were printed, and Whitman signed the title page of each one. For more
information on the book see Ed Folsom, Whitman Making Books/Books Making Whitman: A Catalog and
Commentary (University of Iowa: Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, 2005). [back]
- 5. Horace Traubel and Ed
Wilkins, Whitman's nurse, went to Philadelphia to purchase a wheeled chair for
the poet that would allow him to be "pull'd or push'd" outdoors. See Whitman's
letter to William Sloane Kennedy of May 8,
1889. [back]
- 6. Thomas Jefferson Whitman
(1833–1890), known as "Jeff," was Walt Whitman's favorite brother. As a
civil engineer, Jeff eventually became Superintendent of Water Works in St.
Louis and a nationally recognized figure. For more on Jeff, see Randall Waldron,
"Whitman, Thomas Jefferson (1833–1890)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]