loc_zs.00523.jpg
R.M.S. "BRITANNIC."1
7 a.m.
Wednesday 8th July
We are off,2 dear Walt, in a few minutes.3 I was glad to see Warry4 yesterday—many
thanks for the L. of G. tho of course I had a copy with me, would not think of going so far without
one.
loc_zs.00524.jpg
I have this moment received a cablegram from Johnston5 & Wallace6 of Bolton to say that they will write me to
Queenstown7—they are wonderful fellows, I shall enjoy seeing them immensely
Love to you always
R M Bucke
loc_zs.00521.jpg
see notes July 16 1891
loc_zs.00522.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 letter is addressed:
Walt Whitman | 328 Mickle Street | Camden | New
Jersey. It is postmarked: NEW YORK | JUL | 8 | 230PM | P; CAMDEN, N.J.
| JUL | 9 | 6AM | 1891 | REC'D. [back]
- 2. At this time, Bucke was
departing for England in an attempt to establish a foreign market for the gas
and fluid meter he was developing with his brother-in-law William Gurd. [back]
- 3. Bucke was a passenger on the
SS Britannic, an ocean liner belonging to the White Star Line, traveling a New
York to Liverpool route; it was known for many years as one of the fastest
steamships traveling the Atlantic. It operated as a passenger vessel from 1874
to 1899, when it was converted to a Royal Navy troopship. [back]
- 4. Frank Warren Fritzinger
(1867–1899), known as "Warry," took Edward Wilkins's place as Whitman's
nurse, beginning in October 1889. Fritzinger and his brother Harry were the sons
of Henry Whireman Fritzinger (about 1828–1881), a former sea captain who
went blind, and Almira E. Fritzinger. Following Henry Sr.'s death, Warren and
his brother—having lost both parents—became wards of Mary O. Davis,
Whitman's housekeeper, who had also taken care of the sea captain and who
inherited part of his estate. A picture of Warry is displayed in the May 1891
New England Magazine (278). See Joann P. Krieg, "Fritzinger, Frederick Warren (1866–1899),"
Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998), 240. [back]
- 5. Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927)
of Annan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, was a physician, photographer, and avid
cyclist. Johnston was trained in Edinburgh and served as a hospital surgeon in
West Bromwich for two years before moving to Bolton, England, in 1876. Johnston
worked as a general practitioner in Bolton and as an instructor of ambulance
classes for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways. He served at Whalley Military
Hospital during World War I and became Medical Superintendent of Townley's
Hospital in 1917 (John Anson, "Bolton's Illustrious Doctor Johnston—a man
of many talents," Bolton News [March 28, 2021]; Paul
Salveson, Moorlands, Memories, and Reflections: A Centenary
Celebration of Allen Clarke's Moorlands and Memories [Lancashire
Loominary, 2020]). Johnston, along with the architect James W. Wallace, 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
Johnston, see Larry D. Griffin, "Johnston, Dr. John (1852–1927)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 6. 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]
- 7. Queenstown, County Cork,
Ireland, was in the late nineteenth century a hub for the transatlantic cable
and for cable lines to the U.K. Because of its position close to transatlantic
passenger routes, boats from Queenstown would gather messages from transatlantic
passenger liners to send via cable to the U.S. and U.K., and the boats would
distribute to passengers cables addressed to them. Wallace and Johnston had sent
a cable to Queenstown to be given to Bucke when the Britannic passed by, letting
him know they would be glad to meet him in Liverpool when he landed. [back]