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Walt Whitman to Gabriel Sarrazin, 31 December 1890

About This Item

  • Title: Walt Whitman to Gabriel Sarrazin, 31 December 1890
  • Date: December 31, 1890
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: med.00926
  • Source: The location of this manuscript is unknown. Edwin Haviland Miller derives his transcription from a facsimile of the letter published in the Walt Whitman Review, v (1959), 11. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), 141. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Contributors to digital file: Andrew David King Cristin Noonan Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to Gabriel Sarrazin, 31 December 1890." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 09 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: med.00926.xml (TEI)
Camden New Jersey. U S America1

Tho't I w'd send a short word as I sit here late night Dec: 31 '90 & a storm out—& to-morrow a new year beginning (& I pray it will be one lucky and blessed to you)—Am here yet & much the same—when I publish any thing new I will send you—If you receive this, write & give me directions—God bless you.

Walt Whitman

Correspondent:
Gabriel Sarrazin (1853–1935) was a translator and poet from France who commented positively not only on Whitman's work but also on Poe's. Whitman later corresponded with Sarrazin and apparently liked the critic's work on Leaves of Grass—Whitman even had Sarrazin's chapter on his book translated twice. For more on Sarrazin, see Carmine Sarracino, "Sarrazin, Gabriel (1853–1935)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).

Notes

  • 1. This postcard appeared at an auction in 2017, and the message side of the postcard appeared in the auction catalog. We checked Edwin Haviland Miller's transcription against the photograph but were unable to see the address side of the postcard, which is likely now in a private collection. See RR Fine Autographs & Artifacts (October 11, 2017), p. 146. [back]
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