duk.00445.001_large.jpg
Van Ness House
L. S. Drew & H. N. Clark
Managers
U. A. Woodbury, Proprietor.
Burlington, Vt.
18901
April 22d
Bro Walt.
Very chilly morning—
Han2 not so well—Concernd about yourself—Thinks that
the exertion3
of the occasion may have weakend you—
She cannot write—She is very poorly—
Gratefully Yours—
You will remember us—
Charlie
Correspondent:
Charles Louis Heyde (ca.
1820–1892), a French-born landscape painter, married Hannah Louisa Whitman
(1823–1908), Walt Whitman's sister, and they lived in Burlington, Vermont.
Charles Heyde was infamous among the Whitmans for his offensive letters and poor
treatment of Hannah. For more information about Heyde, see Steven Schroeder,
"Heyde, Charles Louis (1822–1892)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. The "0" in the year of 1890,
intended to complete the date of the letter, appears in red ink in an unknown
hand. Richard Maurice Bucke may have dated this letter. [back]
- 2. Hannah Louisa (Whitman) Heyde
(1823–1908), youngest sister of Walt Whitman, married Charles Louis Heyde
(ca. 1820–1892), a Pennsylvania-born landscape painter. Charles Heyde was
infamous among the Whitmans for his offensive letters and poor treatment of
Hannah. Hannah and Charles Heyde lived in Burlington, Vermont. For more, see
Paula K. Garrett, "Whitman (Heyde), Hannah Louisa (d. 1908)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. Heyde is probably referring
to Whitman's presentation of his Lincoln lecture at the Contemporary Club in
Philadelphia on April 15, 1890, an event that received a great deal of
publicity. [back]