The Walt Whitman Archive
Life & Letters
Correspondence
About this Item
Title: Walt Whitman to Alma Johnston, [between 1878 and 1884]
Date: between 1878 and 1884
Whitman Archive ID: prc.00085
Source: This letter is in the private collection of Kendall Reed. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Ted Genoways (Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 2004), 7:80. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
Contributors to digital file: Kirsten Clawson, Stefan Schöberlein, Nima Najafi Kianfar, and Nicole Gray
431 Stevens st.
Thursday afternoon
1
2 past 2.1
Dear Mrs. Johnston,
This is the queer little book, perhaps you may remember I spoke about some weeks since. It is odd in form, & may be without attractiveness at first—but somehow I think it real good & deep—(after you break the crust & get a little used to it.) My Dear friend I am so sorry to hear by Johnny that you are ill, & suffering—I wish I could send you something, or do something for your relief—
Walt Whitman
Notes:
1. There is too little information to identify a specific date or what the "queer little book" might be. The letter was apparently written after one of Whitman's visits to the Johnstons in New York. [back]