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C. Sadakichi Hartmann to Walt Whitman, 24 July 1888

About This Item

  • Title: C. Sadakichi Hartmann to Walt Whitman, 24 July 1888
  • Date: July 24, 1888
  • Creator(s): C. Sadakichi Hartmann
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.02304
  • 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 Ian Faith Caterina Bernardini Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Hartmann, C. Sadakichi. "C. Sadakichi Hartmann to Walt Whitman, 24 July 1888." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 04 December 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.02304.xml (TEI)
 loc.02304.001.jpg c/o C. V. SKOKOWSKI,1 
 36 BROMFIELD STREET, 
 BOSTON. 24 / July 88. Dear Mr. Whitman,

a few days ago I have returned from a short trip to Holland and England. Met Rossetti,2 young Gilchrist3 and others of your London friends, they all send their love to you. How is your health?

Always Yours C. Sadakichi Hartmann  loc.02304.002.jpg

Correspondent:
Carl Sadakichi Hartmann (ca. 1867–1944) was an art historian and early critic of photography as an art form. He visited Whitman in Camden in the 1880s and published his conversations with the poet in 1895. Generally unpopular with other supporters of the poet, he was known during his years in Greenwich Village as the "King of Bohemia." For more information about Hartmann, see John F. Roche, "Hartmann, C. Sadakichi (ca. 1867–1944)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).

Notes

  • 1. Russian immigrant artist C.V. Skokowski was a Boston painter who later taught Russian at the New England College of Languages. This postal card is addressed: Walt Whitman | 328 Mickle St | Camden New Jersey. It is postmarked: BOSTON.MASS | JUL 24 | 1-PM | 1888. There is an additional Camden, N.J. postmark, but only the name of the city is legible. [back]
  • 2. 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). [back]
  • 3. Herbert Harlakenden Gilchrist (1857–1914), son of Alexander and Anne Gilchrist, was an English painter and editor of Anne Gilchrist: Her Life and Writings (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1887). For more information, see Marion Walker Alcaro, "Gilchrist, Herbert Harlakenden (1857–1914)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
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