Title: Walt Whitman to Talcott Williams, 16 April 1886
Date: April 16, 1886
Whitman Archive ID: med.00771
Source: The location of this manuscript is unknown. Genoways's transcript is based on the 19th Century Shop online catalog of Autographs and Manuscripts, 1997. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Ted Genoways (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2004), 7:82. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
Contributors to digital file: Stefan Schöberlein, Ian Faith, Kyle Barton, and Nicole Gray
328 Mickle Street1
April 16 '86
My dear T.W.,
yours with the $304 safely rec'd by me this afternoon2
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
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).
1. This letter is addressed: Talcott Williams | Daily Press office | 7th and Chestnut | Philadelphia. [back]
2. On April 15, 1886, Whitman delivered his Lincoln lecture in Philadelphia at the Chestnut Street Opera House. Thomas Donaldson and Talcott Williams each raised funds to pay Whitman for the event. On April 15, Whitman recieved $370 from Donaldson and $304 from Williams. Whitman expanded upon this brief note in a letter to Williams on May 4, 1886. [back]