328 Mickle Street
Camden New Jersey1
Sept 15 '87—Even'g—
The package of Photos. came this afternoon. I will sign & return them to-morrow or
next day—All the propositions of Mr Carey2 & yourself are satisfactory3—
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
George Collins "G. C." Cox
(1851–1903) was a well-known celebrity photographer who had taken
photographs of Whitman when the poet was in New York to give his lecture on Abraham Lincoln (his Lincoln lecture)
in April 1887. "The Laughing
Philosopher," one of the most famous photographs of Whitman, was taken
by Cox in 1887.
Notes
- 1. This letter is addressed: G
C Cox | Photographer | Broadway & 12th Street | New York City. It is
postmarked: Camden, N.J. | Sep 15 | 8 PM | 8 PM | 87; P.O. | 9-16 87 | 2 A |
N.Y. [back]
- 2. William Carey
(1858–1901) worked for many years in a mission school for young men, and
he was employed in the Editorial Department of The Century
Magazine (William H. McElroy, "The Late William Carey," The New York Times [November 2, 1901], 27). [back]
- 3. George Cox proposed selling
signed copies of his photographs of Walt Whitman. However, when the September
1887 issue of Century appeared with an advertisement,
Whitman still had not seen proofs, much less signed the photographs. He wrote
John H. Johnston on September 1, 1887, "He
advertises . . . to sell my photo, with autograph. The latter is forged, &
the former illegal & unauthorized." The disagreement was quickly resolved,
and Whitman signed photographs for Cox and returned them. [back]