Walt Whitman to Ernest Rhys, 26 July 1888

About This Item

Title: Walt Whitman to Ernest Rhys, 26 July 1888
Date: July 26, 1888
Creator(s): Walt Whitman
Whitman Archive ID: tex.00474
Source: The Walt Whitman Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), 192–193. 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 Stephanie Blalock
Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to Ernest Rhys, 26 July 1888." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 08 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
Source File: tex.00474.xml (TEI)

Camden N J—U S America1 July 26 '88

I am still above board & shall probably make a sort of rally—This is the 6th or 7th whack thro' the last fourteen years of my war-paralysis & a pretty heavy one—tided over the others, tho' probably weaken'd after each—I am still imprison'd to room & bed, this the seventh week. I am finishing the little "Nov: Boughs"2—

Walt Whitman

Correspondent:
Ernest Percival Rhys (1859–1946) was a British author and editor; he founded the Everyman's Library series of inexpensive reprintings of popular works. He included a volume of Whitman's poems in the Canterbury Poets series and two volumes of Whitman's prose in the Camelot series for Walter Scott publishers. For more information about Rhys, see Joel Myerson, "Rhys, Ernest Percival (1859–1946)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).

Notes

1. This letter is addressed: Ernest Rhys | Care Walter Scott Publisher | 24 Warwick Lane Paternoster | row | London England. It is postmarked: Camden, N.J. | Jul 26 | 8 PM | 88; London. E.C. | (?) | (?) Au 88 | AB. [back]
2. Whitman's November Boughs was published in October 1888 by Philadelphia publisher David McKay. For more information on the book, see James E. Barcus Jr., "November Boughs [1888]," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]