col.00015.001_large.jpg
Camden1
Tuesday Evn'g
Thank you for the papers requested—But the type written report of the
Ing:2 conversation3 has not reached me
Walt Whitman
col.00015.002_large.jpg
Correspondent:
Talcott Williams
(1849–1928) was associated with the New York Sun
and World as well as the Springfield Republican before he became the editor of the Philadelphia Press in 1879. His newspaper vigorously defended Whitman
in news articles and editorials after the Boston censorship of 1882. For more
information about Williams, see Philip W. Leon, "Williams, Talcott (1849–1928)," Walt Whitman:
An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. This postal card is
addressed: Talcott Williams | Office Press newspaper |
Phila:. It is postmarked: CAMDEN| DEC 16 | 6 PM | 90; RECEIVED | DEC 16 | 830 PM
| PHILA. [back]
- 2. Robert "Bob" Green Ingersoll
(1833–1899) was a Civil War veteran and an orator of the post-Civil War
era, known for his support of agnosticism. Ingersoll was a friend of Whitman,
who considered Ingersoll the greatest orator of his time. Whitman said to Horace
Traubel, "It should not be surprising that I am drawn to Ingersoll, for he is
Leaves of Grass. He lives, embodies, the
individuality I preach. I see in Bob the noblest
specimen—American-flavored—pure out of the soil, spreading, giving,
demanding light" (Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden,
Wednesday, March 25, 1891). The feeling was mutual. Upon Whitman's
death in 1892, Ingersoll delivered the eulogy at the poet's funeral. The eulogy
was published to great acclaim and is considered a classic panegyric (see
Phyllis Theroux, The Book of Eulogies [New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1997], 30). [back]
- 3. In his December 8–9, 1890, letter to the Canadian
physician Richard Maurice Bucke, Whitman noted that Talcott Williams of the Philadelphia Press had a stenographer present at
Whitman's birthday celebration at Reisser's Restaurant in Philadelphia on May
31, 1889. The main speaker that evening was Col. Robert Ingersoll, who also had
a conversation with Whitman on the subject of immortality—a conversation
that the stenographer transcribed. Williams planned to type up the conversation
and send copies to Whitman. [back]