14 Milborne Grove,
Brompton, London,
May 9, 1868.
My dear Walt,
I regret to say I was unable to do anything with the proof of Personalism.1
I tried several magazines, but they were already made up
for their May numbers. It is the habit of literary folk to leave London during
Easter, and in order that they might do so this year the editors had their magazines
for May fixed early in April. But in any case I could hardly hope to get an article
in here unless I had it three months beforehand—for it takes so much time to
get it from one editor to another before it gets to the man who wants it. I shall be
very glad to serve you always, and regret that I have failed in this case.
The Reviews have not got hold of you fairly yet; but the good discussion will surely
come.
A member of Parliament who once read some quoted passage from Leaves of Grass is now
reading Rosetti's2 volume3 with great interest and fast changing
his opinion.
But in the last mentioned matters I hope to write you more at length hereafter.
Cordially your friend,
M. D. Conway.
Correspondent:
Moncure Daniel Conway (1832–1907) was an
American abolitionist, minister, and frequent correspondent with Walt Whitman.
Conway often acted as Whitman's agent and occasional public relations man in
England. For more on Conway, see Philip W. Leon, "Conway, Moncure Daniel (1832–1907)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. Whitman had sent his essay "Personalism" to Conway
and asked Conway to help place the piece in an English magazine (See Whitman's March 18,
1867, letter to Conway). Conway was not able to find an English magazine to publish
the essay. But "Personalism" was published in the Galaxy magazine in May of 1868;
the essay was a sequel to Whitman's essay "Democracy" which had been published in that magazine in December 1867. [back]
- 2. William Michael Rossetti (1829–1915), brother
of Dante Gabriel and Christina Rossetti, was an English editor and a champion of
Whitman's work. In 1868, Rossetti edited Whitman's Poems,
selected from the 1867 Leaves of Grass. Whitman referred
to Rossetti's edition as a "horrible dismemberment of my book" in his August 12, 1871, letter to Frederick S. Ellis. Nonetheless,
the edition provided a major boost to Whitman's reputation, and Rossetti would
remain a staunch supporter for the rest of Whitman's life, drawing in
subscribers to the 1876 Leaves of Grass and fundraising
for Whitman in England. For more on Whitman's relationship with Rossetti, see
Sherwood Smith, "Rossetti, William Michael (1829–1915)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. William Michael Rossetti prepared a British edition of
Whitman's writings called Poems by
Walt Whitman that John Camden Hotten published in 1868. About half of
the poems from the 1867 American edition of Leaves of
Grass were removed for the British edition. In his twenty-seven
page "Prefatory Notice," Rossetti justified his editorial decisions, which
included editing potentially objectionable content and removing entire poems:
"My choice has proceeded upon two simple rules: first, to omit entirely every
poem which could with any tolerable fairness be deemed offensive to the feelings
of morals or propriety in this peculiarly nervous age; and, second, to include
every remaining poem which appeared to me of conspicuous beauty or interest."
For more information on this book, see Edward Whitley, "Introduction to the British Editions of Leaves of
Grass." [back]