Walt Whitman to the Editor of the New York Herald, [14(?) December 1887]

About This Item

Title: Walt Whitman to the Editor of the New York Herald, [14(?) December 1887]
Date: December 14, 1887
Creator(s): Walt Whitman
Whitman Archive ID: med.00814
Source: The location of this manuscript is unknown. Miller's transcription is derived from the text of the letter as it appeared in a catalogue from the Chicago Book and Art Auctions, November 27, 1934. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), 46. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
Contributors to digital file: Ryan Furlong Stefan Schöberlein Caterina Bernardini Stephanie Blalock
Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to the Editor of the New York Herald, [14(?) December 1887]." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 09 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
Source File: med.00814.xml (TEI)

328 Mickle St., Camden, New Jersey

I send the lines on Whittier—wh' I suppose are to be printed in paper of Dec. 181—The price is $20, which please send me here by p.o. order—

Walt Whitman

Correspondent:
Walt Whitman's greeting to Whittier ("As the Greek's Signal Flame") appeared in the New York Herald on December 15 and in Munyon's Illustrated World in January 1888. Whitman received $10 from the latter (Whitman's Commonplace Book; Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). Whittier wrote to Whitman on January 13, 1888 to thank him for the greeting.

Notes

1. On December 11, 1887, Julius Chambers of the New York Herald asked Walt Whitman to write a poem to commemorate John Greenleaf Whittier's eightieth birthday. The poet replied on December 12, and on December 14 (Whitman's Commonplace Book; Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.) sent "As the Greek's Signal Flame [For Whittier's eightieth birthday, December 17, 1887]," which was printed in the Herald on the following day. Although Whitman asked twenty dollars, he was paid twenty-five (Whitman's Commomplace Book). [back]