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Josiah Child to Walt Whitman, 20 October 1888

About This Item

  • Title: Josiah Child to Walt Whitman, 20 October 1888
  • Date: October 20, 1888
  • Creator(s): Josiah Child
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.01268
  • Source: The Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Transcribed from digital images or a microfilm reproduction of the original item. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Contributors to digital file: Jeannette Schollaert Alex Ashland Ian Faith Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Child, Josiah. "Josiah Child to Walt Whitman, 20 October 1888." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 19 March 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.01268.xml (TEI)
 loc.01268.001_large.jpg TRÜBNER & CO. AMERICAN, 
 EUROPEAN AND 
 ORIENTAL 
 LITERARY AGENCY. 57, & 59, Ludgate Hill, London E.C. Oct. 20th. 1888 TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS, "TRÜBNER, LONDON." My dear Walt Whitman

I send you on behalf of Trübner & Co a draft for $14.43 for 39 copies of "Democratic Vistas" which is all your commission stock they had left on hand.

I was sorry to hear from our mutual friend Dr. Bucke1 that you are unable to get out in the open air and are confined to the house; it must be a great deprivation for you. I hear  loc.01268.004_large.jpg  loc.01268.002_large.jpg now and again from Dr. Bucke & he frequently mentions you.

I remain my dear Walt Yours Sincerely Josiah Child  loc.01268.003_large.jpg

Correspondent:
Whitman's dealings with Trübner & Company were handled through Josiah Child. Trübner & Company was the London agent for Whitman's books; see Whitman's December 27, 1873, letter to the firm.

Notes

  • 1. Richard Maurice Bucke (1837–1902) was a Canadian physician and psychiatrist who grew close to Whitman after reading Leaves of Grass in 1867 (and later memorizing it) and meeting the poet in Camden a decade later. Even before meeting Whitman, Bucke claimed in 1872 that a reading of Leaves of Grass led him to experience "cosmic consciousness" and an overwhelming sense of epiphany. Bucke became the poet's first biographer with Walt Whitman (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1883), and he later served as one of his medical advisors and literary executors. For more on the relationship of Bucke and Whitman, see Howard Nelson, "Bucke, Richard Maurice," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
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