(If you will permit me to drop the "Mr.")—I write in some haste. Yours of 26 Jan. & 11 Feb. received.2
Ever since we in England heard that your health had received a serious shock, we have had it much at heart,
I assure you, to testify our love, respect & gratitude, in some tangible shape: & I
c.d at this moment tell you of at least 3 several plans
wh. were actively mooted, &
loc.01886.002_large.jpg
partly started. Our ideas on the subject have shifted according to the varying accounts that reached us,
more especially with regard to the material comforts of your present mode of life. As the extract
wh. you send me from the West Jersey Press, &
wh. you vouch for as less strong than the facts,
proves that some more cheerful preceding accounts were not accurate, there are some of us who
w.d really be glad to exert ourselves to the extent of
our moderate means, to prove that we are not insensible of the obligations we owe
you. Profr. Dowden3 of Dublin,
& myself, have more especially been in frequent written
com
loc.01886.003_large.jpgmunication
on this subject, &, if I hear from you in terms to warrant, my so doing, I shall call the attention of others to the subject.
Meanwhile Mrs. Gilchrist4 & I agreed on the 25th that we w.d
at once ask you to oblige each of us with copies of your forthcoming books5 to the
value of £5 (25 dollars, I believe this is) each. This morning I saw about getting the requisite letter of
credit for the amount, £10, & it will no doubt be procured & transmitted to you very shortly.
I c.d not find any suitable locality nearer
than New York mentioned in the Bank documents.—Mrs. G. w.d
wish her books to be copies of the Two
Ri loc.01886.004_large.jpgvulets
only. I sh.d wish for
The Two Rivulets, & also the forthcoming edition of your poems, in whatever proportions may be
most convenient, & suitable for making up the £5.
I sent the substance of the West Jersey Press article to the Academy,6 but regret to find the Editor not forward to publish it: if he fails, I will send it elsewhere. Will also lose no time in offering for publication the poem & prose-matter wh. you forwarded to me—& both of wh. I read with great interest. I trust I may succeed in all these points.
Arthur Clive (so Dowden in loc.01886.005_large.jpgformed
me long ago) is really Standish O'Grady,7 an Irish barrister of good position (or good
prospects, I forget which). As it happens, I have not yet seen his article.
Dowden has mentioned to me your "Autograph Edition," but without defining what it is, nor do I precisely know. It sounds tempting, so I hope Mrs. Gilchrist & I may come in for some specimen of it.
Correspondent:
William Michael Rossetti (1829–1915), brother
of Dante Gabriel and Christina Rossetti, was an English editor and a champion of
Whitman's work. In 1868, Rossetti edited Whitman's Poems,
selected from the 1867 Leaves of Grass. Whitman referred
to Rossetti's edition as a "horrible dismemberment of my book" in his August 12, 1871, letter to Frederick S. Ellis. Nonetheless,
the edition provided a major boost to Whitman's reputation, and Rossetti would
remain a staunch supporter for the rest of Whitman's life, drawing in
subscribers to the 1876 Leaves of Grass and fundraising
for Whitman in England. For more on Whitman's relationship with Rossetti, see
Sherwood Smith, "Rossetti, William Michael (1829–1915)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).