Camden New Jersey
Dec. 11 '89
Received $12 (twelve dollars) from David McKay for three copies Complete Works,1 (tally
bill Nov. 6)—
Walt Whitman
the "Carol for Harvest 1867" is on page 278 under title of "the Return of the Heroes"—
I continue much the same, but palpably slowly declining—have just sold a little 8 line bit
"Christmas Greeting" ie: (welcoming Brazil republic)2 to S S McClure3 N Y for his syndicate—will
tell Horace4 to call—Love to the young ones—
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).
Notes
- 1. Whitman often referred to Complete Poems & Prose (1888) as his "big book." The
volume was published by the poet himself in an arrangement with publisher David
McKay, who allowed Whitman to use the plates for both Leaves
of Grass and Specimen Days—in December
1888. With the help of Horace Traubel, Whitman made the presswork and binding
decisions, and Frederick Oldach bound the volume, which included a profile photo
of the poet on the title page. For more information on the book, see Ed Folsom,
Whitman Making Books/Books Making Whitman: A Catalog and
Commentary (University of Iowa: Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, 2005). [back]
- 2. Whitman is referring to the
poem ultimately titled "A
Christmas Greeting." In his December 3,
1889, letter to Richard Maurice Bucke the poet refers to the poem as
"the little 'Northern Star-Group to a Southern' (welcome to Brazilian
Republic)." This would become the poem's subtitle: "From a Northern Star-Group
to a Southern. 1889–'90." See also "[A
North Star]," a manuscript draft of this poem, in the Catalog of the
Walt Whitman Literary Manuscripts in The Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the
Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C. [back]
- 3. Samuel Sidney McClure
(1857–1949) was an investigative journalist who in 1884 established the
first newspaper syndicate in the United States, which occasionally solicited and
published work by Whitman; later, he co-founded McClure's
Magazine, which published work by Whitman posthumously. [back]
- 4. Horace L. Traubel (1858–1919)
was an American essayist, poet, and magazine publisher. He is best remembered as
the literary executor, biographer, and self-fashioned "spirit child" of Walt
Whitman. During the late 1880s and until Whitman's death in 1892, Traubel visited
the poet virtually every day and took thorough notes of their conversations,
which he later transcribed and published in three large volumes entitled With Walt Whitman in Camden (1906, 1908, & 1914).
After his death, Traubel left behind enough manuscripts for six more volumes of
the series, the final two of which were published in 1996. For more on Traubel,
see Ed Folsom, "Traubel, Horace L. [1858–1919]," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
![[A North Star]](https://whitmanarchive.org/manuscripts/figures/loc.00008.001.jpg){kind=link}