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Willis Visits Irving

About This Item

  • Title: Willis Visits Irving
  • Date: 3 Septermber 1857
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: per.01012
  • Source: Brooklyn Daily Times, 3 Septermber 1857: 2. Our transcription is based on a digital image of a microfilm scan of the original issue. Microfilm of original issue held at Pennsylvania State University Libraries. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the journalism, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Editorial note: This piece is unsigned, as was the case for most of Whitman's journalism. However, this editorial is part of a series of texts that deal with a coherent theme that has been identified by the Whitman Archive journalism team as likely authored by Whitman. This decision is based on a combination of historical and (auto)biographical accounts, similarity to contemporary Whitman writings, a history of scholarly attribution, extant clippings retained by Whitman, computational stylometric analysis, and, in some cases, manuscript evidence in Whitman’s hand.
  • Contributors to digital file: Kaylen Michaelis Kevin McMullen Jason Stacy Karie Cobb
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Willis Visits Irving." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 16 July 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: per.01012.xml (TEI)
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WILLIS VISITS IRVING.—

N.P.W. is one of the perennials. Age does not injure him; custom cannot stale his infinite variety. We think it was Fanny Osgood who used to say that she hoped Willis and Morris would live forever and always edit a paper. Probably there are plenty of other ladies who have thought the same thing.

Nathaniel has been visiting Irving. He found him in capital spirits, and talks of his “free and easy step, pliant motion and admirable spontaneousness.” He says “he has the presence of a man half his age.” In answer to inquiries, Irving said he sometimes worked fourteen hours a day, and “thought he should die in harness.” He “never had a headache.” Ah, the present generation of literary men are different—how different! What a falling off is there, young scribblers!

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