Walt Whitman to Talcott Williams, 11 August 1887

About This Item

Title: Walt Whitman to Talcott Williams, 11 August 1887
Date: August 11, 1887
Creator(s): Walt Whitman
Whitman Archive ID: med.00821
Source: The location of this manuscript is unknown. Miller derives his transcription from the Anderson Galleries, May 20, 1915. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), 43. 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 Talcott Williams, 11 August 1887." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 11 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
Source File: med.00821.xml (TEI)

Camden Aug. 11, 1887

Davis's report of me and my talk, in re the Swinburne article,1 is very cute and is satisfactory to me every way.

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).

Notes

1. In the August issue of The Fortnightly Review, Swinburne repudiated his earlier praise of Whitman. Apparently, a reporter named Davis from the Philadelphia Press, of which Talcott Williams was the editor, questioned Whitman on his reactions. The interview appeared in the Press on August 3, 1887. [back]