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Walt Whitman to Thomas B. Harned, 9 June 1889

About This Item

  • Title: Walt Whitman to Thomas B. Harned, 9 June 1889
  • Date: June 9, 1889
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: med.00876
  • Source: The location of this manuscript is unknown. Edwin Haviland Miller derives his transcription from a transcription in the catalog of Stan V. Henkels, May 8, 1917. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), 349. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Contributors to digital file: Blake Bronson-Bartlett Alex Ashland Ryan Furlong Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to Thomas B. Harned, 9 June 1889." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 09 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: med.00876.xml (TEI)
June 9, 1889

Have had such a good time with the Champagne you sent me, must at least thank [you] for it. I drank the whole bottle (except a little swig I insisted on Ed1 taking for going for it) had it in a big white mug half fill'd with broken ice, it has done me good already (for I was sort of "under the weather" the last 30 hours.)

Walt Whitman

Correspondent:
Thomas Biggs Harned (1851–1921) was one of Whitman's literary executors. Harned was a lawyer in Philadelphia and, having married Augusta Anna Traubel (1856–1914), was Horace Traubel's brother-in-law. For more on him, see Dena Mattausch, "Harned, Thomas Biggs (1851–1921)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). For more on his relationship with Whitman, see Thomas Biggs Harned, Memoirs of Thomas B. Harned, Walt Whitman's Friend and Literary Executor, ed. Peter Van Egmond (Hartford: Transcendental Books, 1972).

Notes

  • 1. Edward "Ned" Wilkins (1865–1936) was one of Whitman's nurses during his Camden years; he was sent to Camden from London, Ontario, by Dr. Richard M. Bucke, and he began caring for Whitman on November 5, 1888. He stayed for a year before returning to Canada to attend the Ontario Veterinary School. Wilkins graduated on March 24, 1893, and then he returned to the United States to commence his practice in Alexandria, Indiana. For more information, see Bert A. Thompson, "Edward Wilkins: Male Nurse to Walt Whitman," Walt Whitman Review 15 (September 1969), 194–195. [back]
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