[London, Ont.,]1
27 March [188]9
Yours of Saturday and Sunday just to hand.2 I am much
pleased to hear you speak so definitely about the new book.3 The big book4 ought to
have been $10. instead of $6. that would have left margin enough for every thing and
it is my belief that it would have sold about as freely at the larger price as the
smaller. $5. for the new book is not too much but it is out of all proportion to $6.
for the Complete works. Why not date the little book on title page "30 May 1889" or
better date it in M.S. along with autograph?
- "Walt Whitman
- 31 May 1889"?
That would be a splendid souvenir.5 I am rejoiced to hear
that Ed.6 has resumed the semi massage
I do not wonder that McKay7 "declines
your proposition"8 the price of the book once established cannot well be changed and
if McK paid $3.33 and $1.28 for binding = $4.61 he would
have too little profit.
Nothing new here, all hearty
Love to you
R M Bucke
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. Horace Traubel's note,
"see | notes | March 29 | 1889," appears in the upper left-hand corner of the
recto. The reference is to Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman
in Camden, Friday, March 29, 1889. [back]
- 2. See Whitman's letter to
Bucke of March 23–24, 1889. [back]
- 3. Whitman had a limited
pocket-book edition of Leaves of Grass printed in honor
of his 70th birthday, on May 31, 1889, through special arrangement with
Frederick Oldach. Only 300 copies were printed, and Whitman signed the title
page of each one. The volume also included the annex Sands at
Seventy and his essay A Backward Glance O'er Traveled
Roads. See Whitman's May 16, 1889, letter
to Oldach. For more information on the book see Ed Folsom, Whitman Making Books/Books Making Whitman: A Catalog and
Commentary (University of Iowa: Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, 2005). [back]
- 4. Whitman often referred to Complete Poems & Prose (1888) as his "big book." The
volume was published by the poet himself in an arrangement with publisher David
McKay, who allowed Whitman to use the plates for both Leaves
of Grass and Specimen Days—in December
1888. With the help of Horace Traubel, Whitman made the presswork and binding
decisions, and Frederick Oldach bound the volume, which included a profile photo
of the poet on the title page. For more information on the book, see Ed Folsom,
Whitman Making Books/Books Making Whitman: A Catalog and
Commentary (University of Iowa: Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, 2005). [back]
- 5. See Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Friday, March 29, 1889. [back]
- 6. Edward "Ned" Wilkins
(1865–1936) was one of Whitman's nurses during his Camden years; he was
sent to Camden from London, Ontario, by Dr. Richard M. Bucke, and he began
caring for Whitman on November 5, 1888. He stayed for a year before returning to
Canada to attend the Ontario Veterinary School. Wilkins graduated on March 24,
1893, and then he returned to the United States to commence his practice in
Alexandria, Indiana. For more information, see Bert A. Thompson, "Edward
Wilkins: Male Nurse to Walt Whitman," Walt Whitman Review
15 (September 1969), 194–195. [back]
- 7. David McKay (1860–1918) took
over Philadelphia-based publisher Rees Welsh's bookselling and publishing
businesses in 1881–82. McKay and Rees Welsh published the 1881 edition of
Leaves of Grass after opposition from the Boston
District Attorney prompted James R. Osgood & Company of Boston, the original publisher,
to withdraw. McKay also went on to publish Specimen Days &
Collect, November Boughs, Gems
from Walt Whitman, Complete Prose Works,
and the final Leaves of Grass, the so-called deathbed edition. For
more information about McKay, see Joel Myerson, "McKay, David (1860–1918)," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 8. See Whitman's letter of March 23–24, 1889. [back]