I am still here neither worse nor better—but keeping in my sick room & in the big old chair—have had something to see to in printing my books & it has probably done me more good than harm—& it all (the printing) has gone on & is going on satisfactorily—Herbert2 has arrived all right & is stopping over in Philadelphia—quite busy—he is to have a studio there & paint—rather thinks (but it has not yet been settled definitely) he has secured a studio already—He has been over to see me—a short visit this time—He looks hearty & handsome, red & fat & first rate—he will come down before long & see you & then tell you more fully his plans—wh' he did not to-day—but I believe he thinks stopping, working & painting here for a year to come—
I have not heard from any of you for quite a while—send me word how things are—tell me abt Debbys3 baby4 & everything—George5 & Harry,6 as far as you know—& how are you yourself—I am sitting here alone up in my room, writing this—Mrs: Davis7 has been an hour or two ago out to the City Hall to pay my taxes (over $34)8—& some thief there stole a nice valuable silk sun umbrella from her—gone—Hope this will find you well—& God bless all—
Walt WhitmanCorrespondent:
Susan M. Lamb Stafford
(1833–1910) was the mother of Harry Stafford (1858–1918), who, in
1876, became a close friend of Whitman while working at the printing office of
the Camden New Republic. Whitman regularly visited the
Staffords at their family farm near Kirkwood, New Jersey. Whitman enjoyed the
atmosphere and tranquility that the farm provided and would often stay for weeks
at a time (see David G. Miller, "Stafford, George and Susan M.," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings [New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998], 685).