Yes1 Nelly the magazine came all straight2—We all like the story—so much in
the turn of it reminds me of William3 & the days that are
gone—We are of course more whetted than ever to have the full book
fr'm H M & Co:4—Is it yet in abeyance?—And you,
& how are you getting along? Nicely I hope.—H T5 is
going over his L S books & more & more impress'd with the
sketches6—
I have had a bad winter & have yet—grip, catarrh of bowels, bladder trouble
&c: &c:—have not been outdoors for ten weeks—but sit up here
& read & write much of the time—but fearful inertia & loss of
interest, grip, or zest—Have a good doctor & take medicine daily—am
printing the little 2d annex, "Good-Bye my Fancy"7—reading the proofs &
putting it through slowly—Should not get along with it or anything without
Horace Traubel—comes every day, & is invaluable—Dr B8 is still
the same in London Canada—I believe expects to
come this way (& to Washington) in three weeks—Fine sunny day as I
write—had my breakfast, a rare fried egg, Graham wet toast &
coffee—my supper at 5—no dinner—pretty fair spirits—often
think of you there & the former times—Write when you can.
God bless you—
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
Ellen M. "Nelly" O'Connor (1830–1913) was the
wife of William D. O'Connor (1832–1889), one of Whitman's staunchest
defenders. Before marrying William, Ellen Tarr was active in the antislavery and
women's rights movements as a contributor to the Liberator and to a women's rights newspaper Una. Whitman dined with the O'Connors frequently during his Washington
years. Though Whitman and William O'Connor would temporarily break off their
friendship in late 1872 over Reconstruction policies with regard to emancipated
African Americans, Ellen would remain friendly with Whitman. The correspondence
between Whitman and Ellen is almost as voluminous as the poet's correspondence
with William. Three years after William O'Connor's death, Ellen married the
Providence businessman Albert Calder. For more on Whitman's relationship with the O'Connors, see Dashae
E. Lott, "O'Connor, William Douglas [1832–1889]" and Lott's "O'Connor (Calder),
Ellen ('Nelly') M. Tarr (1830–1913)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. This letter is addressed:
Mrs: O'Connor | 112 M Street N W | Washington D C. It is postmarked: CAMDEN,
N.J. | APR 8 | 8 PM | 91. [back]
- 2. William D. O'Connor's
"The Brazen Android" was published in two parts The Atlantic
Monthly: Part 1, vol. 67, no. 402, April 1891, pp. 433–454; Part
2, vol. 67, no. 403, May 1891, pp. 577–599. [back]
- 3. William Douglas O'Connor
(1832–1889) was the author of the grand and grandiloquent Whitman pamphlet
The Good Gray Poet: A Vindication, published in 1866.
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). [back]
- 4. On January 2, 1891, Ellen O'Connor informed Whitman
that Houghton, Mifflin & Company was planning to publish her late husband
William D. O'Connor's story "The Brazen Android" in The
Atlantic Monthly in April and May. They also planned to publish a
collection that included three of O'Connor's stories and a preface by Whitman.
Three Tales: The Ghost, The Brazen Android, The
Carpenter was published the following year, in 1892. [back]
- 5. 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]
- 6. See Whitman's letter to
Richard Maurice Bucke of March 30–31,
1891. [back]
- 7. Whitman's book Good-Bye My Fancy (1891) was his last miscellany, and it
included both poetry and short prose works commenting on poetry, aging, and
death, among other topics. Thirty-one poems from the book were later printed as
"Good-Bye my Fancy" in Leaves of Grass
(1891–1892), the last edition of Leaves of Grass
published before Whitman's death in March 1892. For more information see, Donald
Barlow Stauffer, "'Good-Bye my Fancy' (Second Annex) (1891)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 8. Richard Maurice Bucke (1837–1902) was a
Canadian physician and psychiatrist who grew close to Whitman after reading Leaves of Grass in 1867 (and later memorizing it) and
meeting the poet in Camden a decade later. Even before meeting Whitman, Bucke
claimed in 1872 that a reading of Leaves of Grass led him
to experience "cosmic consciousness" and an overwhelming sense of epiphany.
Bucke became the poet's first biographer with Walt
Whitman (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1883), and he later served as one
of his medical advisors and literary executors. For more on the relationship of
Bucke and Whitman, see Howard Nelson, "Bucke, Richard Maurice," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]