328 Mickle Street
Camden New Jersey1
Dec. 19 '87
I send you same mail with this, Leaves of Grass and Two Rivulets—2 vols.2 Please send me a card soon as
rec'd notifying me—pay rec'd—
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
J. P. Loftus was an
instructor at Riverview Academy in Poughkeepsie in 1887. He paid $5 for the
volumes (Whitman's Commonplace Book; Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the
Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C.).
Notes
- 1. This postal card is
addressed: J. P. Loftus | Poughkeepsie | New York. It is postmarked: Camden,
N.J. | Dec 19 1887 | 4:30 PM. [back]
- 2. During the centennial
celebration of the U.S. in 1876, Whitman reissued the fifth edition of Leaves of Grass in the repackaged form of a "Centennial Edition" and
"Author's Edition," with most copies personally signed by the poet. Two Rivulets was published as a companion volume to the
book. Notable for its experimentations in form, typography, and printing
convention, Whitman's two-volume set marks an important departure from previous
publications of Leaves of Grass. For more information,
see Frances E. Keuling-Stout, "
Leaves of Grass, 1876, Author's Edition," "Two Rivulets, Author's Edition [1876],"
and "Preface to Two Rivulets [1876]," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]