Dr. John Johnston to Walt Whitman, 3–4 July 1891

 loc.02494.001_large.jpg 54 Manchester Road Bolton, England July 3rd, 1891 My Dear Old Friend,

This afternoon I recd. your kind p.c. of June 23rd1 & thank you for it with all my heart. I at once sent it on to Wallace.2

I was very pleased to note that at the time of writing you were "keeping tolerably fairly" & that you were "free from marked pain or bother."—from which I conclude that on the whole you are  loc.02494.002_large.jpg maintaining the slight improvement which the last few weeks have brought you. For this "small mercy" we are very grateful, but we wd like to hear of your getting out-of-doors again, without any return of the old unpleasant sensations.

Glad to hear, too, that H.L.T.3 & Warry4 are "well & flourishing." Please give them & Mrs Davis5 my kindest regards.

So Dr Bucke6 leaves on July 8th by the "Britannic"7—a really splendid ship. She passed our steamer,  loc.02494.003_large.jpg the "British Prince," when I was going to America8 & we had a good look at her.

The Doctor will probably arrive in Liverpool about July 15th or 16th & as Bolton is only 30 miles from Liverpool we shall expect to see him soon after his arrival & he will make my house his home during his stay amongst us.

Wallace called here last night, during my absence from town on business, & left one of the "Good Byes"9 & two of the portraits for me. One of the latter ("The Laughing Philosopher"10) appears in my photograph of the interior of John Burroughs's11  loc.02494.004_large.jpg study at West Park.

I particularly like the large head & will copy it as well as one or two of the others

Saturday July 4th 91 8p.m.

I have just returned from Anderton where Wentworth Dixon,12 Mrs. Dixon13 & boy14 have been spending the afternoon with J.W. Wallace

We walked through beautiful Rivington to the secluded spot—christened by J.W.W. "Anderton College"—where we celebrated your birthday15

The day was gloriously fine—the sun streaming  loc.02494.005_large.jpg out of a cloud-dappled sky of deepest azure, down upon lake, wood, moorland & hill, the heat tempered by a gentle refreshing breeze which sighed thro' the arboreal roof of our sylvan assembly room.

While sitting there we mooted the proposal I mentioned in my last letter to H L.T. & wh. he has mentioned in the postscript of his letter to you viz. to send him across the Atlantic to see you.16 We are all very anxious for  loc.02494.006_large.jpg him to do so & every thing is being done to pave the way for him & to induce him to go. The only thing now awaiting is his consent & that I regret to say we have not yet got. We are sure that the trip would do him a great deal of good & we know that he longs to see you but I think he is rather afraid of the excitement But we must wait a little & try him again before we give up the idea. Perhaps a word from you would help us.

But my time is up. Good night & god bless you

Yours affectionately J Johnston

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Notes

• 1. See Whitman's postal card to Johnston of June 23, 1891. [back]
• 2. James William Wallace (1853–1926), of Bolton, England, was an architect and great admirer of Whitman. Wallace, along with Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927), a physician in Bolton, founded the "Bolton College" of English admirers of the poet. Johnston and Wallace corresponded with Whitman and with Horace Traubel and other members of the Whitman circle in the United States, and they separately visited the poet and published memoirs of their trips in John Johnston and James William Wallace, Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 by Two Lancashire Friends (London: Allen and Unwin, 1917). For more information on Wallace, see Larry D. Griffin, "Wallace, James William (1853–1926)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
• 3. Horace L. Traubel (1858–1919) was an American essayist, poet, and magazine publisher. He is best remembered as the literary executor, biographer, and self-fashioned "spirit child" of Walt Whitman. During the late 1880s and until Whitman's death in 1892, Traubel visited the poet virtually every day and took thorough notes of their conversations, which he later transcribed and published in three large volumes entitled With Walt Whitman in Camden (1906, 1908, & 1914). After his death, Traubel left behind enough manuscripts for six more volumes of the series, the final two of which were published in 1996. For more on Traubel, see Ed Folsom, "Traubel, Horace L. [1858–1919]," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
• 4. Frank Warren Fritzinger (1867–1899), known as "Warry," took Edward Wilkins's place as Whitman's nurse, beginning in October 1889. Fritzinger and his brother Harry were the sons of Henry Whireman Fritzinger (about 1828–1881), a former sea captain who went blind, and Almira E. Fritzinger. Following Henry Sr.'s death, Warren and his brother—having lost both parents—became wards of Mary O. Davis, Whitman's housekeeper, who had also taken care of the sea captain and who inherited part of his estate. A picture of Warry is displayed in the May 1891 New England Magazine (278). See Joann P. Krieg, "Fritzinger, Frederick Warren (1866–1899)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998), 240. [back]
• 5. Mary Oakes Davis (1837 or 1838–1908) was Whitman's housekeeper. For more, see Carol J. Singley, "Davis, Mary Oakes (1837 or 1838–1908)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
• 6. 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]
• 7. As Bucke's letters in May and June 1891 both to Whitman and Horace Traubel make clear, he was going abroad to establish a foreign market for his gas and fluid meter, a subject to which he referred constantly in his communications but which the poet studiously ignored. [back]
• 8. Johnston visited Whitman in the summer of 1890. Accounts of Johnston's visits can be found in Johnston and James W. Wallace's Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–91 (London, England: G. Allen & Unwin, ltd., 1917). [back]
• 9. Johnston is referring to Whitman's Good-Bye My Fancy (1891). Good-Bye My Fancy (1891) was Whitman's last miscellany, and it included both poetry and short prose works commenting on poetry, aging, and death, among other topics. Thirty-one poems from the book were later printed as "Good-Bye my Fancy 2d Annex" to Leaves of Grass (1891–1892), the last edition of Leaves of Grass published before Whitman's death in March 1892. For more information see, Donald Barlow Stauffer, "'Good-Bye my Fancy' (Second Annex) (1891)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
• 10. The photographer George Cox (1851–1903) had taken multiple photographs of Whitman in April, 1887, including the image known as "The Laughing Philosopher." [back]
• 11. The naturalist John Burroughs (1837–1921) met Whitman on the streets of Washington, D.C., in 1864. After returning to Brooklyn in 1864, Whitman commenced what was to become a decades-long correspondence with Burroughs. Burroughs was magnetically drawn to Whitman. However, the correspondence between the two men is, as Burroughs acknowledged, curiously "matter-of-fact." Burroughs would write several books involving or devoted to Whitman's work: Notes on Walt Whitman, as Poet and Person (1867), Birds and Poets (1877), Whitman, A Study (1896), and Accepting the Universe (1924). For more on Whitman's relationship with Burroughs, see Carmine Sarracino, "Burroughs, John [1837–1921] and Ursula [1836–1917]," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
• 12. Wentworth Dixon (1855–1928) was a lawyer's clerk and a member of the "Bolton College" of Whitman admirers. He was also affiliated with the Labour Church, an organization whose socialist politics and working-class ideals were often informed by Whitman's work. Dixon communicated directly with Whitman only a few times, but we can see in his letters a profound sense of care for the poet's failing health, as well as genuine gratitude for Whitman's continued correspondence with the "Eagle Street College." See Dixon's letters to Whitman of June 13, 1891 and February 24, 1892. For more on Dixon and Whitman's Bolton disciples, see Paul Salveson, "Loving Comrades: Lancashire's Links to Walt Whitman," Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 14.2 (1996), 57–84. [back]
• 13. As yet we have no information about this person. [back]
• 14. As yet we have no information about this person. [back]
• 15. Johnston is referring to Whitman's seventy-second (and last) birthday on May 31, 1891. [back]
• 16. Johnston is referring to plans for James W. Wallace to travel to the U.S. to visit Whitman, a trip that would take place in September of 1891. [back]