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Walt Whitman to Thomas Donaldson, 16 September 1886

About This Item

  • Title: Walt Whitman to Thomas Donaldson, 16 September 1886
  • Date: September 16, 1886
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.01478
  • 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.

    Notes for this letter were created by Whitman Archive staff and/or were derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller, 6 vols. (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), and supplemented or updated by Whitman Archive staff.
  • Contributors to digital file: Stefan Schöberlein Kyle Barton
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to Thomas Donaldson, 16 September 1886." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 04 December 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.01478.xml (TEI)
 loc.01478.001_large.jpg Camden New Jersey Sept: 16 1886

As I sit here by the open window, this cloudy warm forenoon, I feel that I would just like to write a line (quite purposeless no doubt) sending my love & thanks to you & yours—Do you know this is the anniversary day of my receiving the present through you of the horse & wagon? And much, much good has it done me

—I remain in health much as usual, of late—Shall come over & spend a couple of hours with you soon. Shall send you a postal day before.

Walt Whitman

Shall get the tinotype of horse & wagon &c. for you, first opportunity—.1

 loc.01478.002_large.jpg

Correspondent:
Thomas Donaldson (1843–1898) was a lawyer from Philadelphia and a friend of Whitman. He introduced Whitman to Bram Stoker and later accompanied Stoker when he visited the poet; he also organized a fund-raising drive to buy Whitman a horse and carriage. He authored a biography of Whitman titled Walt Whitman, the Man (1896). For more information about Donaldson, see Steven Schroeder, "Donaldson, Thomas (1843–1898)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).

Notes

  • 1. A picture of the horse and buggy was taken in October. [back]
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