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Camden1
P M
Feb: 13 '89
I send Mrs: O'C[onnor]'s2 letter rec'd this morn'g—welcomed
tho' it has not (only indirectly) what I mostly wanted, all ab't, mainly &
detailedly O'C's3 condition & every thing relating to him—(a good strong man nurse he evidently needs at
once—my poor lamented friend—it is hard, hard)—
I send Rolleston's4 short note—What I am specially tickled
ab't is that a big five pound book5 (40 cents postage) goes safe & sure to
Co[unty] Wicklow Ireland f'm Jersey here. I also enc: Jo: Gilder's6 invitation letter, just rec'd. Of course I make no
response—
Things nearly the same—not one even of my tolerable days—my head is
uncomfortable, half aching & half-deaf—sunny & cold weather—yes,
I will send "Magazine of Poetry" back—Horace7 ask'd last
evn'g of y'r definitive date of coming, with reference to fixing for y'r
lecture—I am sitting here stupidly all day by the stove
Walt Whitman
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Feb. 12. 1889.
Dear Walt,
If things go on as they have for the past week, you will have to think yourself lucky
if you get even a postal in ten days. You must remember that I am housekeeper,
nurse, marketer, & have to see that the house is decent, if
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possible, besides being interrupted at every
ten minutes to answer some one who calls from a good motive to ask how Wm. is, but would do better not to come often.
So far I am the only nurse, & if you have been as
badly
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off as he is, you may have some idea of what it means, in this case it means that I
wash & dress him so far as he can be dressed,—wash his urinals, for he has
to be protected night & day, from the constant dripping,—& to keep
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him at all clean is nearly impossible. Some nights I get not more than four hours
sleep & that very broken, & some days not one moment to rest at all. To-day
I am nearly blind from loss of sleep. We have some very bad nights since the
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attack four weeks ago, & one of the very bad and troublesome developments is the nausea
and throwing up, so you see that I am not very idle, & I some days could not write a postal
card to save you. You will ask why we don't have a nurse & the
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answer is William does not want one, & is not ready yet, [illegible] sends love to you & says tell you he would write if he could.
Good by.
As ever —
Nelly O'Connor.
I have had to leave this letter six times to do some thing else.
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Feb. 2nd
The big book8 with its kind inscription arrived today—I
like much the 1 volume plan.9 Its a book one can walk
about in, as in a great land, & see things of inexhaustible meaning and
promise—And time for this line now, to acknowledge—
Ever yrs
T. W. Rolleston
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The Critic
743 Broadway
New
York
Dear W. Whitman:
The 22d of February (Washington's Birthday) being the seventieth anniversary of the birth of Mr. James Russell Lowell,10 it is our
intention to publish on that date a number of The Critic
consisting mainly of personal estimates of, and greetings to, the distinguished
poet, satirist and statesman.
Should you care to make the tribute a
more memorable one by adding your congratulations to those of the other distinguished
men and women whose names will appear in this special number, we should esteem it a
privilege & make room
loc.02215.002.jpgfor as many words—or as few—as you may care to
write.
We need hardly add that Mr. Lowell knows nothing of the intended compliment, which we trust
will surprise as much as it must please him.
Whatever you may send should reach us by Feb. 19.
Very sincerely yours,
Joseph B. Gilder
12 Feb. '89
Correspondent:
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).
Notes
- 1. This letter is addressed:
Dr R M Bucke | Asylum | London | Ontario | Canada. It is postmarked: Camden,
N.J. | Feb 13 | 8 PM | 89. [back]
- 2. Ellen M. "Nelly" O'Connor (1830–1913) was the
wife of William D. O'Connor (1832–1889), one of Whitman's staunchest
defenders. Before marrying William, Ellen Tarr was active in the antislavery and
women's rights movements as a contributor to the Liberator and to a women's rights newspaper Una. Whitman dined with the O'Connors frequently during his Washington
years. Though Whitman and William O'Connor would temporarily break off their
friendship in late 1872 over Reconstruction policies with regard to emancipated
African Americans, Ellen would remain friendly with Whitman. The correspondence
between Whitman and Ellen is almost as voluminous as the poet's correspondence
with William. Three years after William O'Connor's death, Ellen married the
Providence businessman Albert Calder. For more on Whitman's relationship with the O'Connors, see Dashae
E. Lott, "O'Connor, William Douglas [1832–1889]" and Lott's "O'Connor (Calder),
Ellen ('Nelly') M. Tarr (1830–1913)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. William Douglas O'Connor
(1832–1889) was the author of the grand and grandiloquent Whitman pamphlet
The Good Gray Poet: A Vindication, published in 1866.
For more on Whitman's relationship with O'Connor, see Deshae E. Lott, "O'Connor, William Douglas (1832–1889)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 4. Thomas William Hazen Rolleston
(1857–1920) was an Irish poet and journalist. After attending college in
Dublin, he moved to Germany for a period of time. He wrote to Whitman
frequently, beginning in 1880, and later produced with Karl Knortz the first
book-length translation of Whitman's poetry into German. In 1889, the collection
Grashalme: Gedichte [Leaves of
Grass: Poems] was published by Verlags-Magazin in Zurich, Switzerland.
See Walter Grünzweig, Constructing the German Walt Whitman (Iowa
City: University of Iowa Press, 1995). For more information on Rolleston, see
Walter Grünzweig, "Rolleston, Thomas William Hazen (1857–1920)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D.
Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 5. 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]
- 6. Joseph Benson Gilder (1858–1936) was, with his
sister Jeannette Leonard Gilder (1849–1916), co-editor of The Critic, a literary magazine. [back]
- 7. 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]
- 8. Whitman's "big book" is a reference
to his Complete Poems and Prose of Walt Whitman (1888).
Whitman published the book himself—in an arrangement with the Philadephia
publisher David McKay, who allowed Whitman to use the plates for both Leaves of Grass and Specimen
Days—in December 1888. [back]
- 9. Horace Traubel records
Whitman's first reactions to the new book in Traubel, With
Walt Whitman in Camden, Wednesday, January 23, 1889. Also, on January
23, 1889, Whitman wrote to Bucke: "a handsome substantial
volume—not that I am overwhelmed or even entirely satisfied by it, but as
I had not put my calculations high & was even expecting to be disappointed,
I shall accept it." [back]
- 10. James Russell Lowell
(1819–1891) was an American critic, poet and editor of The Atlantic. One of Whitman's famous poetic contemporaries, Lowell
was committed to conventional poetic form, which was clearly at odds with
Whitman's more experimental form. Still, as editor of the Atlantic Monthly, he published Whitman's "Bardic Symbols," probably at
Ralph Waldo Emerson's suggestion. Lowell later wrote a tribute to Abraham
Lincoln titled "Commemoration Ode," which has often, since its publication, been
contrasted with Whitman's own tribute, "O Captain! My Captain!" For further
information on Whitman's views of Lowell, see William A. Pannapacker, "Lowell, James Russell (1819–1891)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998) [back]