328 Mickle Street
Camden N.J.
June 9 '891
Dear Tom
That cheque for me from Irving2—is it for me
personally—if so, send it over to me, as I am in want of money.3
I am ab't as usual—
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
Thomas Donaldson
(1843–1898) was a lawyer from Philadelphia and a friend of Whitman. He
introduced Whitman to Bram Stoker and later accompanied Stoker when he visited
the poet; he also organized a fund-raising drive to buy Whitman a horse and
carriage. He authored a biography of Whitman titled Walt
Whitman, the Man (1896). For more information about Donaldson, see
Steven Schroeder, "Donaldson, Thomas (1843–1898)," Walt Whitman:
An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. This letter is addressed:
Thomas Donaldson | 326 N. 40th Street | Philadelphia. It is postmarked: Camden,
N.J. | Jun 9 | 1889 | 5 PM. [back]
- 2. Sir Henry Irving
(1838–1905), born John Henry Brodribb, was a well-known British stage
actor and inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula. Both
Stoker (1847–1912) and Irving visited Whitman in Camden in 1884, where the
actor and Whitman talked "a good while and seemed to take to each other
mightily" (Thomas Donaldson, Walt Whitman the Man [New
York: Francis P. Harper, 1896], 55). [back]
- 3. Henry Irving and Bram
Stoker sent gifts of $50 and $25, respectively, to Whitman through
Donaldson; see Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in
Camden, Friday, June 7, 1889. Donaldson informed Whitman on September 15, 1889, that he had deposited the sum
and would bring a check to Camden. Whitman received the money on October 1, 1889
(The Commonplace-Book, Charles E. Feinberg Collection
of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C.), and sent receipts to Donaldson through Wilkins on October 16, 1889
(Thomas Donaldson, Walt Whitman the Man [New York:
Francis P. Harper, 1896], 98). [back]