loc.02569.001_large.jpg
see notes oct 4 1888
J. H. JOHNSTON,
JEWELER
SPECIALTIES:
DUPLICATE WEDDING
PRESENTS.
DIAMONDS, WATCHES, FINGER RINGS
THE REPAIRING OF
FINE
WATCHES AND JEWELRY
A SPECIALTY.
150 BOWERY, COR. BROOME ST.
New York, Mar 14
1887
Dear Uncle Walt:
Over two weeks ago I determined to let Major Pond1 manage your lecture.2
He is "up" in that kind of business and knew just how to do it. He paid I might
calculate $350, as the cost—the output, and he would guarantee to fill a
hall. I at once assumed the responsibility & became security for the $350—
He then tried to get Chickering Hall but it was engaged for April 14th & also for
every afternoon & evening
loc.02569.002_large.jpg about that date. We have at last settled upon the Madison Square
Theater for the afternoon (4 o'clock) of April 14. I must pay the $75. for the
Theater the moment it is engaged, & I will do so, the moment I receive a telegram
from you tomorrow saying "all right, go ahead."3
Please wire me at once on receipt of this.
Alma4 is here with me & is well & says "Lots of love & thanks for the nice
letter rec'd at Equinunk"5 —Ever yours
Sincerely,
J H Johnston
Correspondent:
John H. Johnston (1837–1919) was a New York
jeweler and close friend of Whitman. Johnston was also a friend of Joaquin
Miller (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Tuesday, August 14, 1888). Whitman visited the Johnstons for the
first time early in 1877. In 1888 he observed to Horace Traubel: "I count
[Johnston] as in our inner circle, among the chosen few" (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Wednesday, October 3, 1888). See also Johnston's letter about
Whitman, printed in Charles N. Elliot, Walt Whitman as Man,
Poet and Friend (Boston: Richard G. Badger, 1915), 149–174. For
more on Johnston, see Susan L. Roberson, "Johnston, John H. (1837–1919) and Alma Calder," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. James Burton Pond (1838–1903)
was a famous lecture-manager and printer. He was also awarded the Medal of Honor
for his services in the Civil War. In his 1900 autobiography Eccentricities of Genius (G. W. Dillingham Co: New York), he writes of
Whitman: "Whitman gave a few readings under my management during his life. They
were mostly testimonials from friends, and benefits given in the theatres of New
York City"; Pond concludes with an anecdote about the poet's meeting with Sir
Edwin Arnold (497–501). [back]
- 2. This is a reference to
Whitman's lecture entitled "The Death of Abraham Lincoln." He first delivered
this lecture in New York in 1879 and would deliver it at least eight other times
over the succeeding years, delivering it for the last time on April 15, 1890. He
published a version of the lecture as "Death of Abraham Lincoln" in Specimen Days and Collect (1882–83). For more on
the lecture, see Larry D. Griffin, "'Death of Abraham Lincoln,'" Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings, ed. (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. The event took place and was
apparently a great success. James B. Pond recounts it as follows: "It was indeed
a picturesque spectacle at Walt's last appearance in the Madison Square Theatre,
on Lincoln's birthday. Just as he was about to recite 'My Captain,' a little
girl, the granddaughter of Edmund Clarence Stedman, walked out upon the stage
and presented him with a beautiful bouquet of roses" (Eccentricities of Genius, G. W. Dillingham Co: New York, 1900,
497). [back]
- 4. Alma Calder Johnston was an author
and the second wife of John H. Johnston. Her family owned a home and property in
Equinunk, Pennsylvania. For more on the Johnstons, see Susan L. Roberson, "Johnston, John H. (1837–1919) and Alma Calder" (Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 5. See Whitman's letter to Alma
Calder Johnston of March 3, 1887. [back]