Camden NJ1—
Nov: 12 '91
The book2 came all right this mn'g—seems to me a good piece of typographic work, type,
paper, press work, & binding—pleases my book & printer eyes3—And how
are you getting along & satisfied there? (Lots of friends more than you know
of are asking)—I myself still hold out—lots of [illegible]aches &
sufferings—but mainly fair spirits—sitting this moment in big chair with
g't wolfskin spread back—Traubel4 here last evn'g—he
& wife5 well—Dr Bucke6 well—
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. In 1891, Ellen O'Connor left
Washington DC to live in Providence, Rhode Island. This letter is addressed:
Mrs: O'Connor | 34 Benefit St: | Providence | R I. It is postmarked: Camden, N
J. | Nov 12 | (?) PM | 91. [back]
- 2. Three
Tales by William Douglas O'Connor, with a preface by Whitman, was
issued in late 1891, even though the publication date was listed as 1892. [back]
- 3. Ellen O'Connor replied to
Whitman on November 14 and provided the poet an
explanation of why she had cut some of Whitman's prefact to Three Tales. She wrote: "I cut out in your preface what was said of
the children; it seemed to be, on the whole, better not to speak of the family,
but only of William." For the excised passage of Whitman's preface, see Complete Prose Works (New York, D. Appleton, 1910),
690. [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]
- 5. Horace Traubel was married
to Anne Montgomerie Traubel (b. 1864–1954). [back]
- 6. 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]