loc_jm.00129.jpg
Camden1
mid PM April 15 '91
Y'rs of 13th comes with the bad foot acc't2—a spell
of warm weather here—got out to-day for 15 minutes in wheel chair,3 (first out in four months)—but it was so confusing
& blinding I came back soon—Every thing goes
on fairly I guess—proofs4 nearly done—Dr L5
here yesterday.
Walt Whitman
loc_jm.00130.jpg
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 postal card is
addressed: Dr Bucke | Asylum | London | Ontario Canada. It is postmarked:
Camden, N.J. | Apr 16 | 6 AM | 91; London | PM | Ap 17 | 91 | Canada. [back]
- 2. In his April 13, 1891, letter to Whitman, Bucke writes
that his foot, which had been sore for a couple of weeks, had become inflamed.
He goes on to note that he was "confined" in his room while his foot was
"mending." [back]
- 3. 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]
- 4. Whitman is referring to the
proofs for his book Good-Bye My Fancy (1891). In his
letter to Bucke of May 14, 1891, the poet writes
that Horace Traubel has also just sent Bucke "a full set (66p) 'Good-Bye' annex." Good-Bye My
Fancy (1891) was Whitman's last miscellany, and it included both poetry
and short prose works commenting on poetry, aging, and death, among other
topics. Thirty-one poems from the book were later printed as "Good-Bye my Fancy
2d Annex" to Leaves of Grass (1891–1892), the last
edition of Leaves of Grass published before Whitman's
death in March 1892. For more information see, Donald Barlow Stauffer, "'Good-Bye my Fancy' (Second Annex) (1891)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 5. Daniel Longaker
(1858–1949) was a Philadelphia physician who specialized in obstetrics. He
became Whitman's doctor in early 1891 and provided treatment during the poet's
final illness. For more information, see Carol J. Singley, "Longaker, Dr. Daniel [1858–1949]," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R.LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]