Henry S. Tuke to Walt Whitman, 9 March 1891
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book sent March 24
Swanpool
Falmouth
Cornwall
England—
March•9•1891•
Dear Sir
My friend Mr Gleeson White,1 (who called on you in
November), I think mentioned my name to you as one fond of reading your
books.—& he sent me a flower
loc_vm.00380.jpg you had picked, with a
message of love besides—
Perhaps you have forgotten the incident, but he also tells me, if I send you 25
shillings (or 6 dols.), you would send me the complete edition of your works,2 with
perhaps a little autograph note in the fly-leaf. This I should like above all other
things & 
loc_vm.00381.jpg send the
money in faith.
I cannot tell you what a blessed thing it was to me when I found your poems, & I could say the same of several other young Englishmen I know—
Believe me, though we can probably never meet,
affectionately yours— Henry S. Tuke Mr. Walt Whitman— Camden—New•Jersey•
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Correspondent:
Henry Scott Tuke
(1858–1929) was an English photographer and painter who specialized in
male nudes and maritime themes. Among his acquaintances were Oscar Wilde and
John Addington Symonds, who also corresponded with Whitman. Tuke moved to
Swanpool in 1885 and painted from a fishing boat that he converted into a
floating studio. For more on Tuke's artistic work, see C. Kains-Jackson, "H. S.
Tuke, A.R.A.," The Magazine of Art 26 (1902):
337–343.
Notes
- 1. Gleeson White, an Englishman Whitman described as a "middle-aged man very gentlemanly & pleasant," visited Whitman in Camden on November 4, 1890, and gave the poet a "strong acc't of L of G receptivity and popularity" in England See Daybooks & Notebooks, ed. William White (New York: New York University Press, 1978), 2:575. [back]
- 2. Whitman's Complete Poems & Prose (1888), a volume Whitman often referred to as the "big book," was published by the poet himself—in an arrangement with publisher David McKay, who allowed Whitman to use the plates for both Leaves of Grass and Specimen Days—in December 1888. With the help of Horace Traubel, Whitman made the presswork and binding decisions for the volume. Frederick Oldach bound the book, which included a profile photo of the poet on the title page. For more information on the book, see Ed Folsom, Whitman Making Books/Books Making Whitman: A Catalog and Commentary (University of Iowa: Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, 2005). [back]