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Camden
1889
Saturday early P M June 11—
Well here I am, feeling fairly, commencing my 71st year. The dinner last evening came
off & went off, all right, & was a great success2—they say they had a mighty good
dinner (nothing to drink but Appollinaris water)—I was not at the eating part, but
went an hour later—Ed3 wheel'd me in the chair,4 & two policemen & two other good
fellows just carried me from the sidewalk, chair & all as I sat, up the stairs &
turning (which were fortunately wide & easy) to the big banquet hall & big crowd,
where I was roll'd to my seat, & after being rec'd with tremendous cheering they
bro't me a bottle of first rate champagne & a big glass with ice, (Tom Harned5 sent
to his house for the wine)—The whole thing was tip top & luckily I felt better &
more something like myself, and nearer chipper, than for a year—I made a short
talk, wh' you will see in the paper I enclose6—also Herbert's7 speech—It was
largely a home & neighbors' affair (wh' I liked) although there were (& speeches
from) outsiders—The compliments & eulogies to me were excessive & without
break8—But I fill'd my ice-glass with the good wine, & pick'd out two fragrant roses
f'm a big basket near me, & kept cool & jolly & enjoy'd all—9
I suppose you have the pocket-book copy L of G10 wh' I mailed yesterday—have just sold
one & got the 5 for it—Hamlin Garland11 has been to see me to-day—also Tom
Harned—The Phila: papers have long reports—a little rainy & broken to-day, but
pleasant—
Walt Whitman
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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. | Jun 1 | 8 PM | 89; London | AM | JU 4 | 89 | Canada. [back]
- 2. For Whitman's seventieth
birthday, Horace Traubel and a large committee planned a local celebration for
the poet in Morgan's Hall in Camden, New Jersey. The committee included Henry
(Harry) L. Bonsall, Geoffrey Buckwalter, and Thomas B. Harned. See Horace
Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Tuesday, May 7, 1889. The day was celebrated with a testimonial
dinner. Numerous authors and friends of the poet prepared and delivered
addresses to mark the occasion. Whitman, who did not feel well at the time,
arrived after the dinner to listen to the remarks. [back]
- 3. Edward "Ned" Wilkins
(1865–1936) was one of Whitman's nurses during his Camden years; he was
sent to Camden from London, Ontario, by Dr. Richard M. Bucke, and he began
caring for Whitman on November 5, 1888. He stayed for a year before returning to
Canada to attend the Ontario Veterinary School. Wilkins graduated on March 24,
1893, and then he returned to the United States to commence his practice in
Alexandria, Indiana. For more information, see Bert A. Thompson, "Edward
Wilkins: Male Nurse to Walt Whitman," Walt Whitman Review
15 (September 1969), 194–195. [back]
- 4. Horace Traubel and Ed
Wilkins, Whitman's nurse, went to Philadelphia to purchase a wheeled chair for
the poet that would allow him to be "pull'd or push'd" outdoors. See Whitman's
letter to William Sloane Kennedy of May 8,
1889. [back]
- 5. Thomas Biggs Harned
(1851–1921) was one of Whitman's literary executors. Harned was a lawyer
in Philadelphia and, having married Augusta Anna Traubel (1856–1914), was
Horace Traubel's brother-in-law. For more on him, see Dena Mattausch, "Harned, Thomas Biggs (1851–1921)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). For more on his relationship with Whitman, see
Thomas Biggs Harned, Memoirs of Thomas B. Harned, Walt
Whitman's Friend and Literary Executor, ed. Peter Van Egmond (Hartford:
Transcendental Books, 1972). [back]
- 6. Probably the Philadelphia
Press of June 1, which reported the celebration at
length and quoted Whitman and Herbert Gilchrist directly. [back]
- 7. Herbert Harlakenden Gilchrist
(1857–1914), son of Alexander and Anne Gilchrist, was an English painter
and editor of Anne Gilchrist: Her Life and Writings
(London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1887). For more information, see Marion Walker Alcaro,
"Gilchrist, Herbert Harlakenden (1857–1914)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D.
Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 8. The notes and addresses that
were delivered at Whitman's seventieth birthday celebration in Camden, on May
31, 1889, were collected and edited by Horace Traubel. The volume was titled Camden's Compliment to Walt Whitman, and it included a
photo of Sidney Morse's 1887 clay bust of Whitman as the frontispiece. The book
was published in 1889 by Philadelphia publisher David McKay. [back]
- 9. For Whitman's thoughts about
the dinner, see his June 4, 1889, letter to
William Sloane Kennedy and his June 4–5,
1889, letter to Richard Maurice Bucke. See also Whitman's June 2, 1889, letter to Horace Traubel, regarding
the published volume of birthday speeches Camden's Compliment
to Walt Whitman (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1889). Traubel provides a
report of the proceedings in With Walt Whitman in
Camden, Friday, May 31, 1889. [back]
- 10. Whitman had a limited
pocket-book edition of Leaves of Grass printed in honor
of his 70th birthday, on May 31, 1889, through special arrangement with
Frederick Oldach. Only 300 copies were printed, and Whitman signed the title
page of each one. The volume also included the annex Sands at
Seventy and his essay A Backward Glance O'er Traveled
Roads. See Whitman's May 16, 1889, letter
to Oldach. 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]
- 11. Hamlin Garland
(1860–1940) was an American novelist and autobiographer, known especially
for his works about the hardships of farm life in the American Midwest. For his
relationship to Whitman, see Thomas K. Dean, "Garland, Hamlin," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]