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Camden NJ1—
1891
Nov: 7—4 pm—Bad physical cond'n
enough—last half of the night now generally very bad.—still have
my massage2 soon after 9 pm—still take two meals every day eat but no
gt appetite—bowel movement day
before yestd'y—sit here in the g't chair with frequent reclinings
on the bed all day—frequent letters—some vistors—
Here is an item f'm yestdays Boston Trans3—Kennedy4
seems to be there yet & hard at work5—Johnston6 NY
has been quite sick, but is now out I believe—Baker7
(with Ingersoll8) is getting well
Sunday, Nov: 8—Fine
sunny day—quiet. Dr L9 here
yesterday—no particular change in situation—have seen
O'C's "Three Tales"10—most interesting
coll'n—well printed—suppose Mrs: O'C11
must be in Newport RI but have not heard f'm her—O how beautiful
the sun & weather look out
God bless you & all
W W
Mr. J. E. Roe,12 of the Rochester Bar, N. Y.,
has just brought out a new work, touching the life and life aims
of Lord Bacon.13 The work shows remarkable developments,
and presents Lord Bacon, not merely as the author of the Shakespeare writings,
but of the literary drama of an entire age, and yet to be known as
Bacon's Poetic Commonwealth of the Defoe Period, under the title
"The Moral Moon, or Bacon and His Masks. The Defoe Period Unmasked."
The sonnets of Shakespeare are all called into relation with his life and aims
and to the dusty manuscripts of his pen through a knot of men high in official position;
and particulary through the noted so-called manuscript collector of the Defoe period,
Sir Robert Harley, is traced largely the English Revolution of
168814 and the overthrow
of the Scotch line from the English throne. (New York: C. T. Dillingham.)
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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
Bucke | Asylum | London | Ontario | Canada; It is postmarked: CAMDEN, N.J. |
NOV8 | 5 PM | 91; PHILADELPHIA, P.A. | NOV | 3 | 630PM | 1891 | TRANSIT;
BUFFALO, N.Y. | NOV 9 | [illegible]M | 91
| TRANTSIT; LONDON | PM | NOV 9 | 91 | [illegible] [back]
- 2. Whitman's nurse at the time,
Warren Fritizinger, regularly gave the poet massages. [back]
- 3. This enclosure is
transcribed at the end of the letter. [back]
- 4. William Sloane Kennedy
(1850–1929) was on the staff of the Philadelphia American and the Boston Transcript; he also
published biographies of Longfellow, Holmes, and Whittier (Dictionary of American Biography [New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1933], 336–337). Apparently Kennedy called on
the poet for the first time on November 21, 1880 (William Sloane Kennedy, Reminiscences of Walt Whitman [London: Alexander
Gardener, 1896], 1). Though Kennedy was to become a fierce defender of Whitman,
in his first published article he admitted reservations about the "coarse
indecencies of language" and protested that Whitman's ideal of democracy was
"too coarse and crude"; see The Californian, 3 (February
1881), 149–158. For more about Kennedy, see Katherine Reagan, "Kennedy, William Sloane (1850–1929)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 5. Kennedy frequently sent
Whitman copies of the Boston Transcript, where he worked
as a proofreader. [back]
- 6. John H. Johnston (1837–1919) was a New York
jeweler and close friend of Whitman. Johnston was also a friend of Joaquin
Miller (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Tuesday, August 14, 1888). Whitman visited the Johnstons for the
first time early in 1877. In 1888 he observed to Horace Traubel: "I count
[Johnston] as in our inner circle, among the chosen few" (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Wednesday, October 3, 1888). See also Johnston's letter about
Whitman, printed in Charles N. Elliot, Walt Whitman as Man,
Poet and Friend (Boston: Richard G. Badger, 1915), 149–174. For
more on Johnston, see Susan L. Roberson, "Johnston, John H. (1837–1919) and Alma Calder," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 7. Frank Baker (1841–1918) was
an American anatomist from New York. Before his illustrious medical career, he
served in the 37th New York Volunteers (1861–1863) and then transferred to
Washington, D.C., for government service, where he became intimately familiar
with Walt Whitman and John Burroughs. After receiving a medical degree from
Columbia University, he served as professor of anatomy at Georgetown University,
assistant superintendent of the United States Life Saving Service, and president
of numerous biological and medical societies, among them the Anthropological
Society of Washington. He also edited American
Anthopologist and authored several medical monographs, including two
papers on President Garfield's assassination and several articles on the history
of medicine and anatomy. For more on Baker, see Howard Atwood Kelly and Walter
L. Burrage, A Cyclopedia of American Medical Biography
(Baltimore: The Norman Remington Company, 1920). [back]
- 8. Robert "Bob" Green Ingersoll
(1833–1899) was a Civil War veteran and an orator of the post-Civil War
era, known for his support of agnosticism. Ingersoll was a friend of Whitman,
who considered Ingersoll the greatest orator of his time. Whitman said to Horace
Traubel, "It should not be surprising that I am drawn to Ingersoll, for he is
Leaves of Grass. He lives, embodies, the
individuality I preach. I see in Bob the noblest
specimen—American-flavored—pure out of the soil, spreading, giving,
demanding light" (Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden,
Wednesday, March 25, 1891). The feeling was mutual. Upon Whitman's
death in 1892, Ingersoll delivered the eulogy at the poet's funeral. The eulogy
was published to great acclaim and is considered a classic panegyric (see
Phyllis Theroux, The Book of Eulogies [New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1997], 30). [back]
- 9. 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]
- 10. Three of O'Connor's
stories with a preface by Whitman were published in Three
Tales: The Ghost, The Brazen Android, The Carpenter (Boston and New
York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1892). The preface was included in Good-Bye My Fancy (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1891),
51–53. [back]
- 11. 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]
- 12. John Elisha (J. E.) Row's
The Mortal Moon; Or, Bacon and His Masks, was
published in 1891. [back]
- 13. Francis Bacon (1561–1626) was
an English philosopher, scientist, statesman, and author. Bacon's personal
notebooks and works came under scrutiny during the nineteenth-century because of
suspicions that he had written plays under the pen-name William Shakespeare in
order to protect his political office from material some might find
objectionable. For more on the Baconian theory, see Henry William Smith, Was Lord Bacon The Author of Shakespeare's Plays?: A Letter to
Lord Ellesmere (London: William Skeffington, 1856). [back]
- 14. King James II and VII
(1633–1701, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland) was deposed. [back]