Title: Walt Whitman to William D. O'Connor, 17 June 1888
Date: June 17, 1888
Whitman Archive ID: nyp.00607
Source: The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, New York Public Library. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), 4:175. 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, Alex Ashland, Caterina Bernardini, and Stephanie Blalock
Camden1
Sunday 3 P M
June 17 '88
Am sitting up at present—fearfully weak & little or no grip on my brain—but the doctor gives favorable clues, says pulse is vigorable—my good nurse has given me a good bath—& I have eaten a moderate dinner.
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
William Douglas O'Connor
(1832–1889) was the author of the grand and grandiloquent Whitman pamphlet
"The Good Gray Poet," published in 1866 (a digital version of the pamphlet is
available at "The Good Gray Poet: A Vindication"). For more on Whitman's
relationship with O'Connor, see Deshae E. Lott, "O'Connor, William Douglas (1832–1889)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
1. This letter is endorsed: "Answ'd July 12/88." It is addressed: Wm D O'Connor | 1015 O Street | Washington D C. It is postmarked: Camden, N.J. | Jun (?) | 5 PM | 88. [back]