loc_zs.00119.jpg
Camden
near noon Oct: 24 '90
Dear friends Doctor & Horace1
Cloudy & wet yet—am feeling fairly—the rain has kept me in lately of
course—last night fair sleep—for breakfast small mutton chop & br'd
& coffee—am sitting now by the fire (you can both imagine it
all)—the Blasius people2 sent over yesterday to ask
whether we wanted to "count the tickets" in the boxes first, as they were going to
clear out & destroy them—I sent word that as far as I was concern'd I sh'd
not come for any such purpose, & they might clear out & destroy for all
me—have had some visitors—(am the object of some cranks & lunatics
among the rest)—grip on me palpably yet—the temperature getting colder
here—I enclose the printed slip sent by Wallace,3
England4—also the Hort: Hall note—Horace
we all miss y'r evn'g calls here—So I suppose you have taken in
Niagara—the Lakes and the St: Lawrence too are not to be despised—Best
respects & remembrances to Dr Beemer5 & to Dick
Flynn6 & to half a dozen more friends
there—As I look out of the window the last of autumn appears plainer than
ever.
—God bless you all
Walt Whitman
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. Bucke 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). Horace L. Traubel (1858–1919), an American
essayist, poet, and magazine publisher, is best remembered as the literary
executor and biographer of Walt Whitman. During the mid-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).
Notes
- 1. On October 21, 1890 at
Horticultural Hall in Philadelphia, Robert Ingersoll delivered a lecture in
honor of Walt Whitman titled Liberty in Literature.
Testimonial to Walt Whitman. Whitman recorded in his Commonplace Book
that the lecture was "a noble, (very eulogistic to WW & L of G) eloquent
speech, well responded to by the audience" and the speech itself was published
in New York by the Truth Seeker Company in 1890 (Whitman's Commonplace Book
[Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919,
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.]). Following the lecture event, Horace
Traubel went to Canada with Bucke. [back]
- 2. The reference is probably
to Blasius & Sons, retailers of pianos and presumably agents for the
Philadelphia Horticultural Hall, where the October 21st lecture event honoring
Whitman and featuring a lecture by Robert Ingersoll took place. On October 22,
1890, Whitman recorded in his Commonplace Book his impressions of Ingersoll's
speech: "Well the Ingersoll lecture came off last evn'g in Horticultural Hall,
Broad st: Phila:—a noble, (very eulogistic to WW & L of G) eloquent
speech, well responded to by the audience. There were 1600 to 2000 people,
(choice persons,) one third women (Proceeds to me $869.45)—I went
over, was wheeled on the stage in my ratan chair, and at the last spoke a very
few words—A splendid success for Ingersoll, (& me too.) Ing. had it
written, & read with considerable fire, but perfect ease" (Whitman's
Commonplace Book, Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman,
1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). [back]
- 3. James William Wallace
(1853–1926), of Bolton, England, was an architect and great admirer of
Whitman. Wallace, along with Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927), a physician in
Bolton, founded the "Bolton College" of English admirers of the poet. Johnston
and Wallace corresponded with Whitman and with Horace Traubel and other members
of the Whitman circle in the United States, and they separately visited the poet
and published memoirs of their trips in John Johnston and James William Wallace,
Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 by Two
Lancashire Friends (London: Allen and Unwin, 1917). For more
information on Wallace, see Larry D. Griffin, "Wallace, James William (1853–1926)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 4. This may be a reference
to the clipping from the Sunday Chronicle of February 27,
1887, referring to "Walt Whitman Junior," which Wallace sent on October 15, 1890. [back]
- 5. Dr. Nelson Henry (N. H.)
Beemer (ca. 1854–1934) was in charge of the "Refractory Building" at
Bucke's asylum and served as his first assistant physician. Whitman met Beemer
during his visit there in the summer of 1880. See James H. Coyne, Richard Maurice Bucke: A Sketch (Toronto: Transactions of
the Royal Society of Canada, 1906), 52. [back]
- 6. Dick Flynn was an
employee at Bucke's Asylum. Flynn came to Camden in 1889. See Whitman's August 27, 1889 and August
29, 1889, letters to Bucke. See also Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Tuesday, August 27, 1889). [back]