Thanks for note forwarded.—reached me this morning! Here in Boston I have had
some queer ups-&-downs. The notorious blizzard ruined one lecture completely,
but since then two have passed off with good success, & I am loc.03326.002_large.jpg safe from
bankruptcy,—glad to be able to get off with a whole skin to England &
home. I think of leaving here for New York next Monday or Tuesday, & then taking
a trip to Washington, returning via. Philadelphia for a last visit of two or three
days. Spring is probably more forward with you, than up here; I hope the brighter
weather is giving you good cheer,—after
loc.03326.003_large.jpg the long imprisonment of
winter.
Kennedy3 has not crossed my sight very recently; I hope to spend
an evening with him before I leave. He went with me the other day to see the
collection of Jean François Millet's4 paintings at Mr. Quincey
Shaw's, Brookline.5 A grand array they make,— giving one new insight into the
human environment of earth & sky & water. How paltry this life of loc.03326.004_large.jpg parlours &
carpets in comparison!
The note from H. Gilchrist,6 which you sent on the other day, shows him full of work & good spirits. Of course he ends with "Love to Walt" as usual. Several other young fellows over there, who have written lately, have also sent greetings & love, to which adding my own, I am, as always,
Yours affectionately, Ernest RhysCorrespondent:
Ernest Percival Rhys
(1859–1946) was a British author and editor; he founded the Everyman's
Library series of inexpensive reprintings of popular works. He included a volume
of Whitman's poems in the Canterbury Poets series and two volumes of Whitman's
prose in the Camelot series for Walter Scott publishers. For more information
about Rhys, see Joel Myerson, "Rhys, Ernest Percival (1859–1946)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).