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My dear William & Nelly O'Connor, I write a few lines to tell you how I find the folks at home—Both my

My brother would be in what I would almost call fair condition, if it were not that his legs are affected—it

I find myself perplexed about printing my book.

My brother Jeff wishes me to give you his sincerest thanks for your good will &c in the matter of the

My sister at Burlington Vt. is not well, & mother will probably pay a long visit there this summer.

brought down here to the front basement, & has in every respect improved much since last Saturday—Then my

will next week be put in the hands of a New York publisher & launched on the market—at least that's my

design at present — When you write tell me all about William—My mother returns bringing cheerful intelligence

whole—& is herself in splendid condition—havn't seen her look & apparently feel better in many years—My

My dear Nelly, I sit down home here in the front basement alone to write you a few lines.

I find it makes a mighty difference in my visit—(What is home without—&c)— My dear little California

worse—the fourteen days are up next Sunday—meanwhile she grows weaker & weaker— I am middling well—My

I send my love to Charles Eldridge—same to Ashton—when you write tell me the latest from the baby & Mrs

The reason is that my book, which is a little more than half done, does not get along as fast as the

Andy, dear boy, I hope my delay of a few days will not put you out—Write to me, & tell me about the office

, & my friends there.

Don't forward any letters that come after Friday next, but put them in my drawer.

Once more—I send my love to you & all. Walt Walt Whitman to Andrew Kerr, 10 September 1866

Brooklyn Nov 17, 1863 Dear friend I suppose Nelly has received a letter from me posting you up of my

last night, Trovatore —very, very good singing & acting— I feel to devote myself more to the work of my

I shall range along the high plateau of my life & capacity for a few years now, & then swiftly descend

, & the objects, &c of most, seem to me very flippant & shallow somehow since I returned this time— My

Dear comrade, I send you my love, & to William & Nelly, & remember me to Major [Hapgood] — Walt Walt

Every thing here with me remains the same—I am free from the distress in my head—Mrs.

Grayson is very sick—she sent my old washerwoman, old Aunt Kitty, around this morning to see if I had

any of "that bread my mother used to send me"—I suppose she meant the sweet Dyer bread—I gave her a

My hospitals are dwindled down to a small force—but there are plenty of cases to occupy me a couple of

yet—Jeff, I wish I could now & then be home & see you all, even if was only a couple of hours— Give my

Lane, and the Doctor —I send my love to Mat & the little girls.

O'Connor related in a letter on November 24, 1863, that the Count had said to her recently: "My Gott,

Mason, who "used to be in my party on the Water Works."

According to his letter to Jeff on January 30, 1865, Whitman wrote to "Captain" Mason the same day; on

I wrote in my last letter that I had met her son Willy in the street, Monday Jan. 7, & he told me she

Well good bye, dear mother—& give my love to George, & Jeff, & Matty, & all. Walt.

is covered with snow here, looks wintry enough—cold weather, but somehow I like it—I have no fire in my

Botta: My dear Madam: I sent you by mail about three weeks ago, (in compliance with your request of April

13,) the MS. of one of my poems, "O Star of France"—also a photographic portrait.

Thanks for your letter, statement of acc't. account , of my books Leaves of Grass &c. which have just

Forty One Dollars, fifty-four cents, on acc't of sales of my books, in 1873.

nerves) they say it must not be applied, for it will do more harm than good, might cause convulsions—My

I wrote to Jeff yesterday—I send you Harper's Weekly , mother, it is quite interesting—I still hold my

mind about getting a house here & shall certainly do so —At present my great hope is to get well, to

get so I can walk, & have some use of my limbs—I can write, pretty well, and my mind is clear, but I

cannot walk a block, & have no power to do any thing, in lifting or moving any thing in my room, or

Later a board of inquiry attributed the disaster to dereliction of duty on the part of the captain.

o'clock Dearest mother , I am writing this over at the office—I have made a sort of commencement of my

name—is it Sarah Pintard ) —when you next write tell me—I am feeling quite well—(only easily put out with my

Later a board of inquiry attributed the disaster to dereliction of duty on the part of the captain.

Singing Thrush" (later titled "Wandering at Morn") on March 15, 1873; "Spain" on March 24, 1873; "Sea Captains

—No letter has yet reached me, specifying an order for my books, new edition—but if one does not come

.; Leeds | 162 | 10 My | 76."

Whitman: "Because you have, as it were, given me a ground for the love of men I thank you continually in my

Whitman referred to Rossetti's edition as a "horrible dismemberment of my book" in his August 12, 1871

My dear Mr.

spirits—not well enough to go out in the world & go to work—but not sick enough to give up either, or lose my

till I read it, how much eligibility to passion, character and art arousings was still left to me in my

The delay of the last two months in getting ready my second instalment of the 1876 Edition, has annoyed

Whitman referred to Rossetti's edition as a "horrible dismemberment of my book" in his August 12, 1871

I send you, same mail with this, a copy of my book, as requested—Also a copy of Mr.

I send you my thanks & good will.

must be pretty tough up there on that bleak hill—It has been very cold here, but I have not minded it—My

is out of this world of sin & trouble—& I don't know as we have any cause to mourn for him— Mother, my

for somehow I feel as if I wanted to throw off everything like work or thought, for a while—& be with my

is pretty well over—they say the folks are coming home from the country, &c—I am glad I didn't take my

fine day—I am feeling well— Well, I have a long job of copying to do for Ashton, so I will wind up my

For the last two days I have felt a good deal better—My head is much better, & I feel more like myself

One of my fellow clerks has taken a seat for me, & made me a present of it—the play is "Queen Elisabeth

I am writing this by my big window, where I can look out on the water—the sun is shining bright as silver

Wednesday—I am better than I was last week—not as well as I would like to be, but well enough to keep on with my

It is beautiful weather here to-day—I have got my new trowsers—$20!!—only think of that!

—it is lucky I wear my clothes a long while— Walt.

Dearest mother, I suppose you got two letters from me last week, Wednesday & Saturday—My cold still troubles

neuralgia—but I guess I shall get over it—I have good meals, I do not cook for myself, at present—but get my

forming on one of his eyes, & will have to undergo a surgical operation—Mother, I told you all about my

Dearest Mother, I have grown better the last four or five days, & don't have that pain in my head now

It has got pretty cold here the last two days—I wear my big old overcoat.

Sir In a letter from John Swinton as he speaks of your kind desire to subscribe for some copies of my

I could convey no idea to you of how it affects my soul.

I got it, looked into it with wonder, and felt that here was something that touched on depths of my humanity

get the two big vols: (Complete Works 900 pp) I sent for you in a bundle by International Express to my

same constitutional good spirits (a great factor) holding on, but grip & bladder bother—I enclose you my

Whitman occasionally referred to Stafford as "My (adopted) son" (as in a December 13, 1876, letter to

Camden P M Jan: 8 '91 Personal | My dear J M S If we are going into this thing my notion is to do it

My suggestion w'd be (if you feel to give space enough) to print after that "personal memoranda" of mine

signed by its author's name (now that O'Connor and Mrs: Gilchrist are dead those three are perhaps my

I still hold the fort, (after a fashion)—send you my latest & doubtless concluding chirps of L of G.

spree —I sit up most of the time—but am a fearful wreck f'm grippe, gastric & bladder malady &c &c—my

Whitman occasionally referred to Stafford as "My (adopted) son" (as in a December 13, 1876, letter to

Camden New Jersey Nov: 30 1890 My dear D L Y'rs of 21st rec'd & welcomed—the Cal[ifornia] papers rec'd

as I get it—Warren Fritzinger is still with me—Mrs: Davis is well—Have had a depressed gloomy week—my

Jeff (T J Whitman) died last Tuesday in St Louis, Mo: was a civil engineer—Hear often f'm Dr Bucke my

I suppose you got my last I sent.

and his brother Harry were the sons of Henry Whireman Fritzinger (about 1828–1881), a former sea captain

Davis, Whitman's housekeeper, who had also taken care of the sea captain and who inherited part of his

Whitman's book Good-Bye My Fancy (1891) was his last miscellany, and it included both poetry and short

Thirty-one poems from the book were later printed as "Good-Bye my Fancy" in Leaves of Grass (1891–1892

For more information see, Donald Barlow Stauffer, "'Good-Bye my Fancy' (Second Annex) (1891)," Walt Whitman

& shall probably make a sort of rally—This is the 6th or 7th whack thro' the last fourteen years of my

memories to you—for I have them always for you—Was prostrated down with ab't the sixth recurrent attack of my

paralysis again and iron-bound constipation early last June & have been kept ever since in my sick room

Boughs" wh' I send a copy to you same mail with this—Also am finishing a big Vol. comprehending all my

ready for binder—I am still at 328 Mickle Street—have not been out doors for over six months—hardly out my

here & see me Friday noon, Dec: 7 I am up, had a partial bath, a bit of breakfast & am now sitting my

With me & my affairs no great ripple—I am worldlily comfortable & in good physical condition as usual

of late—I went on to New York—was convoyed by my dear old Quaker friend R Pearsall Smith —had a success

at the lecture 14th (netted $600 for my self—Andrew Carnegie gave $350 for his box)—had a stunning reception

I am wanting to envelope up & send some copies by Oceanic Express of my "Complete Works," a big 900 page

(one copy for you), all directed to my friend R.

, London—will send you word when I do so—also wish you to give me address of Misses Ford (give them my

love) to whom I send a copy in same package—As I finish I am comfortable—sitting in my big chair here

length (with many interpolations) in The Commonplace-Book: "A very bad (never so bad before) lapse of my

payment (to J M Shoemaker & Co. bankers) they spoke of the paid original draft, & I gave the Camden bank my

Warry (my young man) has just been in to urge me to get out in wheel chair, wh' I shall—the sun is out

and his brother Harry were the sons of Henry Whireman Fritzinger (about 1828–1881), a former sea captain

Davis, Whitman's housekeeper, who had also taken care of the sea captain and who inherited part of his

hour or two even three or four, every day—a friend sends a hansom & I drive out—or at other times in my

Whitman occasionally referred to Stafford as "My (adopted) son" (as in a December 13, 1876, letter to

Ford & William & Ethel & Arthur Thompson —(The letter—somehow one of the best I ever rec'd—goes to my

hour or two to the river shore when I feel like it—have a good strong young Canadian (Ed Wilkins ) for my

helper & nurse—have just had what I call my currying for the mid-day —& am probably getting along better

than you all might suppose—fortunately my right & left arms are left me in good strength & volition,

& advice to be a sort of public & speechifying dinner &c. in compliment to my finishing my 70th year

Camden New Jersey U S America Oct 24 I send you to-day today to same address as this card my Vol.

Camden noon Sept: 26 '90 Am getting along ab't as usual—Some nice oysters (with a bit of lemon) for my

breakfast—cloudy & wet inclined to chilly to-day here—was out in wheel-chair last even'g—I enclose my

, (the piece in Trans[cript] rec'd—thanks)—sold a big book yesterday—have just lit a little fire in my

Mott avenue & 149th Street Station L New York City Aug: August 8 '81 1881 My dear Baxter Yours rec'd

Osgood & Co: are going to publish a complete & new volume of my poems, & I am coming on to see to & oversee

November 23 Dear friend I am still here—not yet (as an old Long Island aunt used to say) "not yet out of my

Villas Elm Road Heath street Hampstead London Eng: England The rough map enclosed gives you some idea of my

a late London Fortnightly in which J A Symonds, touching briefly but very commendingly & mentioning my

Philosophy , has been often to see me, has been very kind, & I like him much—Probably ten days more will end my

wanted to visit, in his own words, "this most sympathetic of poets, for whose large & lofty nature my

Editor Let me give you some flying impromptu notes confessedly all too meager (a hiatus every where) of my

431 Stevens street Camden N J Jan: January 25 '83 My dear friends Would "the Bible as Poetry" suit you

up from a three weeks' visit down in the Jersey woods, & find your card of 26th—The only copies of my

complete poems "Leaves of Grass," in my control, are of a special autograph & portrait edition, 1882

Walt Whitman I also supply, when desired, my prose volume "Specimen Days & Collect"—price $2.—374 pages

328 Mickle Street Camden New Jersey June 14 '87 Dear S E C I wish to send you my special deep-felt personal

more daily work than ever has fallen upon me to do the current season, & though I am well & contented, my

I too send you my love. And do you feel no disappointment because I now write but briefly.

My book is my best letter, my response, my truest explanation of all.

In it I have put my body & spirit. You understand this better & fuller & clearer than any one else.

…I am yet young enough to bear thee children, my darling, if God should so bless me.

And would yield my life for this cause with serene joy if it were so appointed, if that were the price

On July 31, he wrote John Burroughs that he had "finished (sent all copy) my little Nov: Boughs."

reads, in its entirety, "The two songs on this page are eked out during an afternoon, June, 1888, in my

seen them, they are quite creditable) has gathered a variety of biographical information—criticises my

a volume ( It at least will not be liable to any District Att'y Attorney episodes—) comprising all my

be three Volumes gyrating together, the L of G—the S D & T—and Dr Bucke's book— Upon the whole, & as my

English stock & birth, but grown up in Canada and the California regions of America, & combining in my

Walt Whitman My last three letters to you have been One of March 8 (or 7) " " 19 & the present one find

am glad you refused the letters for publication—They were strictly private Walt Whitman Don't forget my

easier to-day—have eaten a bit of breakfast for the first time in many days—A long cold snow-storm here—My

Herbert was hurt: "You make no allusion to my Book or my little confidences thereon!

In the letter of November 9 he observed: "I am so sorry that I have finished my labour of love, the doing