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Walt Whitman to David McKay, 18 December 1886

About This Item

  • Title: Walt Whitman to David McKay, 18 December 1886
  • Date: December 18, 1886
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: med.00772
  • Source: The location of this manuscript is unknown. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Ted Genoways (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2004), 84. 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 Nicole Gray
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to David McKay, 18 December 1886." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 09 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: med.00772.xml (TEI)

Received from David McKay, 18th December, 1886, One Hundred and Twenty 01 | 100 Dollars, for royalties on my books for the last year.

Walt Whitman

Correspondent:
David McKay (1860–1918) took over Philadelphia-based publisher Rees Welsh's bookselling and publishing businesses in 1881–82. McKay and Rees Welsh published the 1881 edition of Leaves of Grass after opposition from the Boston District Attorney prompted James R. Osgood & Company of Boston, the original publisher, to withdraw. McKay also went on to publish Specimen Days & Collect, November Boughs, Gems from Walt Whitman, Complete Prose Works, and the final Leaves of Grass, the so-called deathbed edition. For more information about McKay, see Joel Myerson, "McKay, David (1860–1918)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).

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