Feinberg/Whitman Box 15 Folder 11 General Correspondence Rossetti, William Michael Mar. 1876-Nov. 1886 &undated (DCN167)W. M Rossetti March 1[6]7 '76 W.M. Rossetti Dear friend Yours of 28th Feb. rec'd & [believ] indeed welcomed & appreciated. I am jogging along still about the same in physical condition - still certainly no worse, & I sometime suspect rather [less' better or at any rate more adjusted to the [seprations] situation - even [begining?] to think of making some move, some change of [scene] base &c (which the doctors have been advising for over two years, but I havn't felt to do, yet) My paralysis over not left I cannot walk any distance - I still have [some[ this [ler pretty grave] baffling absinate apparantly chronic affection of the stomachic apparatus & liver - yet (as told in former letters. I yet[letterhead] GEORGE B. CARSE, Proprietor CALVIN E. LINCH, Buisiness Manager The New Republic No. 139 Federal Street Camden, N.J. 1872 around, & outdoors a little every day - write & read in moderation - appetite good [digg digestion] (eat only very plain food, but always did that) -digestion tolerate - spirits unflagging - ([I believe] As [said?] above I have told you most of this before, but suppose you might like know it [continues] all again up Of course pretty to date.) [Dark Still] Darkly colors, all this [true there] are[pretty bad spells some pretty grave one intervals & I have [just] resigned myself to [the] certainty [probability] permanently incapacitat[ed]ion from work - but things may continue in this half and half way for months, even years. [text upside down in bottom margin] It has been said that there is something almost comical in[letterhead] GEORGE B. CARSE, Proprietor CALVIN E. LINCH, Business Manager The New Republic No. 139 Federal Street. Camden N. J. 1873 ¶My books are out the new edition - set immediately on receiving your letter of 28th of which I have sent you by mail March 19 & I then suppose you have before this rec'd. * 1 [yo]My dear friend Your offers of help & those of my other friends. I think I fully [understa] appreciate in the right - spirit welcome & acceptive. leaving [it] the matter altogether in your hands & to your convenience [sense] [of] discretion, now leisure& nicety. Though poor,now even to penury [I have not during my illness] I [was not] have not so far been deprived of any physical thing I [rea want] need or wish whatever & [when not quite] feel certain I shall no be [so deprived] in the future. During my employment in4 0f [seven] [eight] seven (1865-'72) years in Washington, I regularly [waiver?] a great part of my wages, - [and though] the sum has now [been] become about exhausted by my [b] living & illness - without employment or income - the last three years - but there [are] are [no] at present already beginning [let] welcome dribbles hitherward, from the [sales] purchase of my new edition, which [which] henceforth I [shall] just job & sell myself & shall do so (as the book agents [have] here have [all] badly cheated me.) That is the way I should prefer to [have live] [&] glean my support - & [The] in that way I [joyf] cheerfully accept all the aid my friends can conveniently proffer. *25 {* 2 Prof Dowden has sent me the money for seven sets of my new edition - which sets I have forwarded to him\at Dublin. I wish you to read I loan this letter to him to I wish you to [send]loan this letter to be read by Mrs. Gilcrist, [as] very soon. I shall write to [y] her to-day, but briefly. [I also wish you][to loan it to Prof. Dowden to read..] 6 *'I wish you to notify me (postal card will do,) soon as you receive the books. To repeat a little, & Without entering into [frut further] details understand, dear friend, for yourself, & all that I heartily & affectionately thank my English friends, & that I accept their sympathetic generosity in the same spirit in which I believe, (nay know) it is offered - that though poor, I am not in want - that I [am] maintain good heart & cheer - & that [I shall promptly fulfi] as for the most satisfac to me, (& I think it can be done) I wish [that I should still like] to live, as long as possible, on the sale, by myself, of my own books, and, [if possible] [also] if practicable by my [own] writings for the [magazine or other] press. There is a small fury [here] (& much eructive spitting & spattering among the "literary coteries" here [about] about [over] Robt Buchanans [st slash] lance - slash at them anent of me in the London Daily News of March 13, (synopsis cabled here to associated press, [news] - ) - [So Some recent] the "coteries" resenting it then bitterly - fall to berating [not only] R.B. [but too] [first &] then me, madly, - say [I] if I were sick, & were poor, why then, &c &c. &c Robt BuchananGeorge B. Carse, Proprietor. Calvin E. Linch, Business Manager. "The New Republic." No. 139 Federal Street. Camden, N.J. 187 March 17, '76 letter to Rossetti (probably read also by Buchanan Dowden & Mrs. Gilchrist)CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, U. S. AMERICA. March 17th, 1876. 431 STEVENS STREET, COR WEST. W. M. ROSSETTI. Dear Friend,-- Yours of the 28th Feb. received, and indeed welcomed and appreciated. I am jogging along still about the same in physical condition -- still certainly no worse, and I sometimes lately suspect rather better, or at any rate more adjusted to the situation -- Even begin to think of making some move, some change of base &c.: the doctors have been advising it for over two years, but I haven't felt to do it yet. My paralysis does not lift -- I cannot walk any distance -- I still have this baffling, obstinate, apparently chronic affection of the stomachic apparatus and liver: yet (as told in former letters) I get out of doors a little every day -- write and read in moderation -- appetite sufficiently good (eat only very plain food, but always did that) -- digestion tolerable -- and spirits unflagging. As said above, I have told you most of this before, but suppose you might like to know it all again, up to day. Of course, and pretty darkly colouring the whole, are bad spells, prostrations, some pretty grave ones, intervals -- and I have resigned myself to the certainty of permanent incapacitation from solid work: but things may continue at least in this half-and-half way for months -- even years. My books are out, the new edition; a set of which, immediately on receiving your letter of 28th, I have sent you (by Mail, March 15), and I suppose you have before this received them. My dear friend, your offers of help, and those of my other British friends, I think I fully appreciate, in the right spirit, welcome and acceptive -- leaving the matter altogether in your and their hands -- and to your and their convenience, discretion, leisure, and nicety. Though poor now, even to penury, I have not so far been deprived of any physical thing I need or wish whatever, and I feel confident I shall not in the future. During my employment of seven years or more in Washington after the war (1865 -- 72) I regularly saved a great part of my wages: and, though the sum has now become about exhausted by my expenses of the last three years, there are already beginning at present welcome dribbles hitherward from the sales of my new edition, which I just job and sell, myself (as the book-agents here for three years in New York have successively, deliberately, badly cheated me), and shall continue to dispose of the books myself. And that is the way I should prefer to glean my support. In that was I cheerfully accept all the aid my friends find it convenient to proffer. To repeat a little, and without undertaking details, understand, dear friend, for yourself and all, that I heartily and most affectionately thank my British friends, and that I accept their sympathetic generosity in the same spirit in which I believe (nay, know) it is offered -- that though poor I am not in want -- that I maintain good heart and cheer; and that by far the most satisfaction to me (and I think it can be done, and believe it will be) will be to live, as long as possible, on the sales, by myself, of my own works, and perhaps, if practicable, by further writings for the press. WALT WHITMAN. I am prohibited from writing too much, and I must make this candid statement of the situation serve for all my dear friends over there.letter from W W to Rossetti March 17 '76Yours of March 5. with enc. rec'd. Books will be sent [soon] hence by [?] Baldwins' Express (office in London, H. Starr & Co. 22 Moorgate st.) [will] [be] will arrive there somewhere [at] about 10th April I sent a set (L of G and Two Riv.[)] Two Vols. [?] [?] in one package) by mail, March 15--and another set [Two Vols.] same date [set] to Mrs. G--* [but] I sent a single Vol. Two Riv. by mail March 20, which I suppose you have certainly rec'd. but have since learned that [?] [the] such packages are overweight, and [fear] fear they [are not only] [have not] may not have been forward by P.O) to New York [Inform me, by postal card will do I also wrote you, March 17thPLYMOUTH C 3 MR 6 76 Walt Whitman Esq. Poet &c &c [Washington.] [United States.] Camden N.J. W.H.K.W. Postal Card to Rossetti March. 23 '76 "The New Republic" Steam-Power Printing House, 139 Federal St., Camden, N.J. George B. Carse, Editor and Proprietor. To Rossetti March 29, '76 on sending the copy L of G & Two RTo Rossetti March 29 '76 As I should like to have you prepared [at once] [immediately] for any thing that [may] might happen --now or in the future--as it may be [?] [?], of this public, that some one in London [will] may take a notion to rush out & reprint [[?] unauthorized copies] crude [of] my books--George B. Carse, Proprietor. Calvin E. Linch, Business Manager. "The New Republic." No. 139 Federal Street. Camden, N.J. 187I send you by same mail with [this] this the [prepared] [?] full & corrected copies of my two Volumes carefully prepared for a London edition with a an especial Preface by myself [for such edition], & altogether such as I should like to have the books for permanent reading & investigation in Europe. My dear friend, I authorize you to [do] make any arrangement [of terms] about publishing, terms &c you think.George B. Carse, Proprietor. Calvin E. Linch, Business Manager. "The New Republic." No. 139 Federal Street. Camden, N.J. 187 best - only the [edited?] books must be printed verbatim & entire, & in two Vols. (You will see what I have authorized to be put at bottom of title pages) Dowden wrote to me a word on this matter - & I shall tell him that [I h you w] I have furnished you with this [copies] copy, - [prepared] & if you have no objection, shall consider him [his] to be join'd with you in the matter of [negoti] deciding, negotiating [&] terms etc., and any thing you [?] do in the matter, under those conditions, [hereby] I hereby warrant & endorse George B. Carse, Proprietor. Calvin E. Linch, Business Manager. "The New Republic." No. 139 Federal Street. Camden, N.J. 187LONDON. N.W. F 7 MR31 76 N.W. 12 NEW YORK APR 12 PAID ALL ONE PENNY FARTHING FOREIGN POST CARD FOR COUNTRIES INCLUDED IN THE POSTAL UNION. THE ADDRESS ONLY TO BE WRITTEN ON THIS SIDE. Walt Whitman 431 Stevens St. Cor West Camden New Jersey U.S.A.56 Easton Sq. N.W. 30 March. Your letter of 17 March, & one copy of each vol. rec'd yesterday with much satisfaction. Will proceed in due course. Read yesterday the memoranda on the war - highly interesting. W. M. Rossetti.To Rossetti March 31 '76 (went in steamer [Iowa] Baltic April 1) [My letter of the 17th] [My] dear friend, I have already acknowledged yours of the 16th, [with] Mine [to you] of the 17th will have [already] advised you of the situation here & [of] the general character of my wishes, the way things having shaped themselves late in London Whatever I should [have done] do, if I had the planning of it de novo, (like a general making the best of the turn the battle [is taking] has taken in its own hands, & [having] compelled to [do] decide quickly & definitely) [I have concluded] what to direct & authorize, under the circumstances.Mr. Walter Whitman.2 While I unhesitatingly accept such kind offerings as Chas. W. Raynell's (No 1 in your transcript) and of Leicester Warren (No 2)--and [do not prohibit] authorize you or any of my friends [from] to continue to accept the like, in my name, where offered readily & properly [dont] I did [as well] rather you would [after] after receiving this either (to use natural lingo) [?] [if not] take in sail, or at least dont crowd on any more sail--at all-- --[I wish] This whole business thing [is to be done] required to be done [with] with perfect candor [?] to my generous friends --to you and the other mediums of that generosity--& to myself and must & shall be so done, [without with [little]Mch. 20. 1876. Mr. Walt. Whitman: Dear Sir:- [?] [?] [?] article Henry Abbey. 3 Of the cheque, (No 10) or any other or any [further] thing [matters] of the kind sent by you or any of my friends, the most convenient to me would be to have them remitted to me to my address here, [payable] drawn [by] on some well known New York or Philadelphia banker [to] [on] payable to my order. If in Philadelphia, [Dr] on Drexel & Co. bankers 34 South Third St. The P.O. international money order is also another I should like in all cases to have the full address of the friend & giver to send him or her at least one special autograph copy of my book [with] As told you [?] in a former letter, although I am indeed poor, & my means about [[?] you] exhausted [and [?]]. I am [neither] not in a condition of [wa] pinching want, [nor any thing like it], nor [at all] likely to be. I am boarding here, under the usual unavoidable expenses. * I now accept these gifts, [not only] first for my own help [but that] then perhaps somewhat for grave needs of [?]To Rossetti (went in Baltic April 1 '76) [E. MELL. BOYLE, Editor and proprietor. Mauch Chunk, Pa., March 17. 1876. Walt Whitman Esq I shall be glad to advertise your book gratis if you think it worth while to send one copy. I hope you will get rich] 4 For the future I really think the income from my books, if it could be utilized, promises enough for my support & that would decidedly be most satisfactory to me. Probably from the tinge of Quaker breed in me, the [inward] inner convictions & silent dictates of the spirit [sec] settle such case[s] [a] cases [for me], and what [to] I must do in [it] [them]. [them], more than reason, convention, or even delicacy - and [to their them] [those] these inner dictates I now obey in the decisions of this letter, as a higher reason & delicacy, & the final arbiter of the [case] question. WW If perfectly convenient I should like Buchanan to see this letter: - Also Dowden, Indeed you can make [any] what [further] use of it, in your discretion, you think best,A line further about the publication copy of my Two Volumes I sent a couple of days since. [You must have rec'd] I couldn't rest till I had sent that copy to you, to provide for any thing that might happen - (my affairs are in such a chaotic state here in America) - my health, mentally, from week to week - even existence uncertain. Now you have it, I feel relieved, & shall consider that the thing is secured & [&] cannot be lost. But there is no haste about it. [in your discretion make whatever]If you should hear of any proposed London reprint, then try & get [it] my copy published, at once, taking any decent terms you can. But if there don't appear to be any danger, take your leisure, [about it,] & hold on: see if you can get any one to pay me something down ahead. I revoke what I said the ¶ about [the] a shilling edition --[make a] let the books be --at the price thought best [proper, most] for the trade & market.There is a [?] row [in New York] over your row in London--All the curs [of] & kennels of literary New York and Boston are in full chorus after you fellows--after Buchanan especially-- than you, Dowden & the rest-- [?] [?] of [?]To Rossetti went April 1 '76431 Stevens st. cor West Camden, N. Jersey. U S America March 31, '76 My dear friend, (Later than my letter dispatched last evening I wish merely to say) [draw any] make cheques orders or drafts [to be] payable by Brown, brothers, bankers, Philadelphia, U.S.A., corner Chestnut and Strawberry streets, [to] on my endorsement. Walt Whitman I am feeling quite comfortable to-day--I wish this information --the address above--conveyed to Robert Buchanan-- to Rossetti [March 31 '76] April 1 (later)To Rossetti April 7 went in Steamer Saturday 8th This is to acknowledge your letter of the 25th of March. [(] Those of the 16th and 20th, [were] duly rec'd, & [I belie] were previously acknowledged[)] My letters - (that of March 17. in which, I hope, I outline the situation, & my wishes - the postal card of March 23 that of 29th on sending the Two Vol. publication copy, two L of G. and [TR] Two R - that of April 1, with fuller & perhaps more decided statement of my views & wishes - and a short letter subsequently, same date) [must have] have conveyed [n] I think all I desire to say on the whole affair. If the [cabled London] cable telegram in the evening papers of Tuesday last, correctly synopsize [Conway?]to Rossetti went April 8 '76 inc slip from Postletter about my case, in [the] a London paper of that date. I do not approve his letter. It seems to me singularly malapropos --& in the face of my friends, their efforts there. I believe I ought to look over your [cable] two last letters again, & say something further about the transcripts--but I cannot to day--will soon. Send me the papers that print my things. Good bye for this time, & God bless you my dearest friend--I know I am troubling your time & activity a good deal, but I just won't make any apology about it, further than to say that I am sure I deeply appreciate it.POSTAL CARD WRITE THE ADDRESS ON THIS SIDE--THE MESSA CAMDEN [?] 23 N.J. LONDON. N.W. 07 PAID Wm M Rossetti 56 Euston Sq London nw England431 Stevens st Camden N Jersey US America April 23--I have to-day sent by mail my new Vol. "Two Rivulets to T.C.S. and E.J.S.M (the Scotch Cos) 1 Alva st Edinburgh' W,W, have not yet sent my express parcel to LondonYours (both) of April 19 both recd--with draft on Drexel & Co. for {pound symbol} 28.4. which is most acceptable. The books will now be prepared [forthwith] packed, & sent, ([with] together your which have been waiting & Mrs Gilchrists copies also) [to to in [?] express, in a [manne] (probably to [an address] London, [probably in office] express [in manner] of which I will advise you of more explicitly [in] letter [soon] to follow this [soon] probably within two or three days)I do not approve of Mr. Conway's letter of April 4 - [nor of his] [I do not] - it was [not only needless & unauthorized by me, & entirely] unneeded hurtful to my case and an [([as] [as] in diplomacy as some one has said, a the utterance inappropriate markedly malapropos or ill-tempered is worse than the worst submitte)] [Then I consider it an as To me It was] insulting [to] Mr. Buchanan, [me] directly through me, [which and] I decidedly resent & disavow [I have not said said any thing myself to Buchanan, & probably perhaps ma Of c] [[To me] entirely Buchanan stands to me as a fervid, [& affectionate] affectionate loving & reverentive friend and advocate, [V I] whose letters in the D News & the statements in them. [all] & [several], (foully as [they] he has been abused for them in America and by some in Great Britain) in all & several fare & correctly [stated] statements.][Every [?]] Every point without exception made in his [May] March 11 letter to the London News * is [well] well taken --[for [?]] & perfectly true-- [for There is a --The literary points are for there is a --[and] even what he says about my "impoverishment" is [much] much [much] nearer the truth than Mr Conways and Lord Houghton's [feeble problems] rose-colored illusion & varnish. [That * particularly All about the American critics, publishers, "poets" &c &c is[My books] I repeat what I have already written [I write] you to accept all subscriptions. Your remittance &c will be supplied, I am already [?] a small edition [upon remittance] [however numerous]. The price will invariably be [invariably] 7/10 the set $5 each Volume. Each Vol. will [have my cowboy contain portraits & my autograph, [as part of the book.] [In The present temporary [?] [?] The Two, [Vols.] (Leaves and Rivulets) comprise my complete works--[as (you see] (the latter as you see includes Memoranda of the War as a constituent part.) [of it.][Of course I cannot be expected to know or care about the Mr Conway might have had [The technical literary disputes or] If Mr [Conway] C instead of intellectual had [had] sympathetic delicacy & insight (I dont think he has either) he might would [for] have [refr] divined [mu] [much] more & [better] truer about me & my affairs, [both present & past; [than he has] both [from the beginning], years ago, in the beginning & now [under as I live] here in CamdenI send my love & thanks to W B Scott. I shall try to write a line to him [Scott] to C W Raynell, to J L Warren, to A G Dew-Smith, & others - soon as I can. I heartily thank my good friends of the Secularist * Drexel tr last [The d] *The draft on Drexel & Co. the Philadelphia bankers is perfectly convenient to me. [I send my love & thanks to W. B. Scott] I [approve] [?ly] like your printing & furnish free off copies of [the] my letter of March 17 [& sending it to [friends interested.] I [re endorse it -] I find in the copies you send me upon reading it in print it describes the situation, [as I should like to have it stated] as I wish, - & I reendorse. + if you have any to spare send me two or three more [the n in some] in next paper you sendto Rossetti May 5 76 (sent in Steamer of May 6 from NY)sent Two letters Letter 4 pages WM Rossetti July 3 also June 26th '76 acknowledging his of June 14--speaking of the situation--the delay (with the new edition)--Tennyson --pay for Ath and Ex. articles -- also July 3, acknowledging £ 45.9.6 sent me in letter of June 20 '76 with listTo Rossetti Sept 1 '76 My dear friend, At last [after] I am beginning to receive from the bindery the second batch of my new Two Volume edition, [of which] (I have printed 600 copies each Vol) [of which I] & send you a set [I have had 600 copies of each Vol., printed no new flyer] by this mail. am [beginning] to] now [ab] at last also supplying [my friends] the [my] English subscribers & friends [also--have sent their Vols. surbe by week, was the post paid [volumes. Some Vols. (see ][their Vols.] by mail [the] their Vols. (on to the names [list appended] to this note, [Ea] [The] and the rest will [follow be sent of] gradually follow until every [subscriber] over is supplied - (probably all [will be sent] owing the [?] ten days) My letter[s] of June 26, [of July 3?] speaking of the situation, the delay in this second batch &c. and my letter of July 3. acknowledge yours of June 20th, enclosing me £ 45.9.6, you haveI expected ere this to hear of Mrs. Gilschists arrival in the U.S., and perhaps to have the great happiness of meeting her, but up to this date have heard nothing How about G.W. Foote and T.,J, Nettleship, mentioned by you with extracts, under date of May 23?--Their names do not appear in the lists you have given me, to whom I have forwarded, or am to forward books? I sent you the Vol. for Mrs. Matthews, as the address given seemed to want definition. [The others] Otherwise I am jogging along as at previous accounts, My dear little baby nephew & namesake is dead, & buried by the side of my mother--a bitter cup to me--the child's death.The Atheneum folks have sent me [the] good pay for the little poem - but I have not been paid yet for the Examiner piece. I fear the E. people have forgotten it. list appended (circular enclosed) [of] I enclose a later circular - will send a dozen or so, soon -431 Stevens St--Camden, N Jersey US America--Sept 1, '76 My dear friend, At last I am beginning to receive from the bindery the second batch of my late Two Volume edition (I print 600 copies each Vol.) & send you a set in the new binding, by this mail. I am now at last also supplying my English subscribers & friends their Vols.--have sent their books, post paid, by same mail with this to several of them (see list appended)--& the rest will follow, until every one will be sent--probably within the next ten days. I sent you the Vol. for Mrs. Matthews, as the address was too indefinite. --How about G.W. Foote and T.J. Nettleship mention'd by you & giving extracts, under date of May 23d?-- Their names do not appear in the lists you have given me to send books to. --The Atheneum folks have sent me good pay for the little poem, but I have had nothing, & heard nothing from the Examiner. I expected to have [have] heard of Mrs. Gilchrist's arrival in the U.S. & to have had perhaps ere this the great happiness of meeting her--but have heard nothing up to date.My letter of June 26, speaking of the situation, the delay in printing this second batch, &c.--And my letter of July 3d acknowledging yours of June 20, enclosing one £45-9-6, & list--you have. I enclose herewith a later circular--will send you a dozen or so soon. My dear little baby nephew, & namesake, is dead, & buried by the side of my mother, a bitter cup to me,--Otherwise things are about the same with me as before--& I am jogging along about the same. Walt Whitmanto Rossetti or to Rossetti Sept 8--10--'76 wrote Rossetti sending full list of books sent, addresses, &c--(& with query about some 15 or 18 names mentioned in R's letters)Mr. W. Whitman Stevens Strukask Rossetti about GW Foote, 13 Book sellers row London mentioned (23d May) as offering £3 for 3 of the Vols also about TJ Nettleship (mentioned 23d May)D G Rossetti C H Howell H G Dakyns Hubert Herkomer J T Nettleship for self & others Roden Noel A C Swinburne G W Foote Cicely Marston Dowdens sets [?] Vols. have been sent to their specific addresses M D Conways also The Radical for May will appear late, but is likely to prove an unusually attractive number. Among other articles of interest is a strong paper giving the "Evidences of Spiritualism," by one of its leading exponents, Hudson Tuttle; a review of "Mr. Abbot's Religion," by D.A. Wasson; "The Miracles of the New Testament," by M.H. Doolittle; "A Sermon of Immortality," by the late Everett Finley; and some very appreciative pages on Walt Whitman's Poems, by an English lady, written to W.M. Rossetti, and introduced to the public in the following letter:- London, Nov, 20, 1869. The great satisfaction which I felt in arranging, about two years ago, the first edition (or rather selection) of Walt Whitman's poems published in England has been, in due course of time, followed by another satisfaction - and one which rightly laid to heart, is both less mixed and more intense. A lady, whose friendship honors me, read the selection last summer, and immediately afterwards accepted from me the loan of the complete edition, and read that also. Both volumes raised in her a boundless and splendid enthusiasm ennobling to witness. This found expression in some letters which she addressed to me at the time, and which contain (I affirm it without misgiving, and I hope not without some title to form an opinion) about the fullest, farthest-reaching, and most eloquent appreciation of Whitman yet put into writing and certainly the most valuable, whether or not I or other readers find cause for the critical dissent at an item here and there. The most valuable, I say, because this is the expression of what a woman sees in Whitman's poems, - a woman who has read and thought much, and whom to know is to respect and esteem, in every relation, whether of character, intellect, or culture. I longed that what this lady had written should be published for the benefit of English, and more especially of American readers. She has generously acceded to my request. The ensuing reflections upon Whitman's poems contain several passages reproduced verbatim from the letters in question, supplemented by others which the same lady has added so as more fully to define and convey the impression which those unparalleled and deathless writings have made upon her. W. M. Rossettithe good-service of ordering copies. Mr. A's wish for a copy of my [article] "full review" of [about] you (as he terms it, meaning of course the introduction to the Selection from your Poems wh. I published in 1868) has been attended to--the Publishers sending him a copy [I hardly thought there was any remaining] of the book. The tone of his letter is agreeable to me, & I hope it will be the same to you, his name had not previously been known to me. Please remember me to Mrs. Gilchrist --or us, I shd. rather say. My wife received lately a letter from Mrs. G. to serve as an introduction for an American lady, Mrs. Edwards. To the latter my wife sent a card for a gathering at our house of a few friends on 14 June, & we had the Somerset House, W.C. 15 June '77 Dear Whitman, I received some little while ago your post card of 3 May, & felt obliged to you for having sent the books to Mr. Cozens, without waiting for actual receipt of the money --wh., as before stated, is in my hands. The only reason why, contrary to my usual practice, I have so long delayed sending it on to you is that I have been looking out for any other stray subscriptions, promised but not yet paid, wh. cd be sent along with Mr. Cozens's in a Bank Order--or, if more convenient, a P.O. order. On receipt of your card (other such subscriptions not making their appearance[?] at present) I was intending to send C's money at once by P.O. order; but then, some little while ago now, Mints, the Editor of the Examiner, started in talk with me, of his own accord, the subject of the money that he owes for your article, & he proposed to send it round to me at once--wh. of course I approved. This again made me hold over the dispatching of the P.O. order for C's money, but as yet, after all, no symptom of Mints's remittance appears. One of these days C's money will be properly sent off to you--accompanied, let us hope, by some others, but if not then by itself. I enter into all these tiresome details because an explanation of any delay is due to you: but I fear you will think them quite as bothering as the delay itself. It is a goodish while ago-- say 6 weeks--that I wrote to Dowden in Dublin, enquiring about those subscribers who volunteered thro him (not holding any direct communication with me), & who have not yet paid. Dowden has not yet replied to me: when he does so, it will [behove] behove me to look into the details of all the outstanding subscriptions, & get the affair finally closed. Lately--say 3 weeks ago--I received a letter from Australia, of wh. I enclose some extracts, along with the printed matter wh. accompanied it. I replied the other day, giving the writer Mr. Adams my last news of your health, & enclosing also a copy of my last circular (summer of 1876) regarding your new editions--not without some hope that some few Australians here & there may do themselvespleasure of seeing Mrs. E. & her son accordingly. I was glad to hear from her a good account of the Gs personally, tho she [thought] thinks Philadelphia is anything but a favourable field for the painting career of Herbert. I have by me a note written long ago (6 Jan?) by Foote, Editor of the Secularist, to say that, before receiving my then last note on the subject, he had sent on to you direct the subscription-money in his hands. This, I suppose, is all right, within your cognizance. I enclose a note written to you by C.P. O'Conor, & shall without delay forward to you by post the vol. of his poems. In a note addressed to me he says: "Will you kindly tell Whitman that the writer is one of his ardent admirers, & that it was a rich treat to [r] read in your American Poems those of Walt Whitman's production." I never met Mr. O'Conor; but he has addressed me from time to time about his little vol. of poems, & other such matters. Not very long ago I received a letter from Mr. Marvin; offering a prospect, rather more definite than hitherto, of your coming to look a little about you in England, & perhaps on the European Continent. I can but repeat my delight in the prospect, were it to be realized, & my wife's hope & my own that you will not, in such case, fail to give us some of your company in this house, Euston Sq. We have had a rather noticeable season here. Up to 2 June, nothing that was worthy the name even of Spring: then suddenly on 3 June hot summer, wh. continues till now - but less decidedly these 2 days. I am interested in hearing that the Bostonians mean to cut us out - & we deserve it for our neglectful tardy stolidity - & erect a statue to our poet Shelley. Believe me with all affection Truly yours, W M. Rossetti [*Finished 22 June*]we heartily hope that so it is. Please to give her our affectionate regards & greetings. I did receive Burroughs's new book. Read carefully thro, with much pleasure, all that he says about you: the rest of the book I have had to leave unread as yet, in the press of my many occupations. All prosperity to you & the Gilchrists in the coming year. I am glad to read what you say of Herbert & Beatrice, & fully credit your praises of them. Always yours, W.M. Rossetti Somerset House, London, W.C. 17 Decr. /77. Dear Whitman, Your letter of 11 Oct. has been with me some little while during wh. my leisure has been of the scantiest. It is so still, & may make me cut this shorter than I shd. like. You say: "I suppose you got my postals on sending the books to J.A. Rose." To the best of my recollection I never did get these: I am aware however that as a matter of fact Rose is in possession of your books, but have not seen him since he received them. I feel ashamed for my colleagues colleagues the English men of the press that the Editor of the Examiner shd. have failed to pay you his just debt especially after the 2 or 3 times that I raised the question with him, & he once of his own accord with me. He is a man I seldom meet: but I do meet him sometimes, &, whenever this may happen next, I shall (if opportunity allows) remind him of his obligation, & I trust he may yet attend to it. I posted to the Editor of the Secularist the letter to him wh. you enclosed: & herewith I forward his reply. This is all I know of the matter. I know a little of the Editor Mr. Foote himself, & shd. be very slow & suppose that he was personally in fault. The deep black border of his letter marks the recent death of his wife--a Miss Heimann, daughter & old friends of ours. Within the last 2 or 3 years she had shown mental excitability of a morbid kind: she married Foote 8 or 9 mos. ago I suppose, & recently, say toward the end of Septr., "took an overdose of chloral," or in other words committed suicide. I mention these matters, not as being relevant to your concerns with Foote, but because I know that whatever calls for sympathy finds it in you. Your statement that Mrs. Gilchrist had undergone a surgical operation distressed us. You spoke of the trouble as just over however, &US POSTAL CARD WRITE ADDRESS ON THIS SIDE--THE MESSAGE CAMDEN JUL 28 N.J. Wm M Rossetti 56 Euston Square London nw England Walt Whitman the American Poet, author of Leaves of Grass &cCamden New Jersey US America July 28 '78--I have to-day forwarded by mail Two sets of my works--four Vols. Please notify me soon as they reach you safely. WWLONDON. W.C. 6 DE 17 77 S.M.D. Walt Whitman 431 Stevens St. Camden New Jersey U.S.A. WM Rossetti Dec 17 '77 NEW [?] DEC 26 PAID E ALL CAMDEN [?] AM N.J. LONDON. W.C. 4 JA 3 85 Walt Whitman Camden New Jersey U.S.A. from Rossetti Jan 1 '85 see notes July 6 [?] 1888NEW YORK JAN 12 PAID E ALL 85I am glad to note in this country from time to time symptoms of the increasing appreciation of your works: especially something written by Ruskin, & The Sonata from the Lincoln Dirges. Accept as heretofore the affectionate respect & regard of Yours always, W.M. Rossetti London 1 Janry. /85 Dear Whitman, Some while ago I received your kind present of the 2 vols.--Leaves of Grass & Specimen Days: received them, I am certain you will believe, with extreme pleasure, & with a grateful sense of your continuing to remember me across a somewhat long lapse of years. To be remembered by Walt Whitmanis what any man shd. be proud of, & none is so more than I. I have read the Specimen Days vol. right thro: finding various new things, & continued pleasure in renewing my acquaintance with the old ones. Am extremely pleased to find in this copy of the book something wh. is absent even from Mrs. Gilchrists's copy-- the photographs of your mother & father. If you were blessed with an unsurpassably good mother, I can with truth say the same of myself. My mother is still with us --aged nearly 85: health & faculties sound on the whole, but naturally bowed & stricken with the weight of years. I have also scanned with a good deal of attention (short of complete re-reading) my old & constant admiration, the Leaves of Grass vol. I observe that some edition (I think the Philadelphia edition is named but my vol. is not under my hand at the moment for reference) is mentioned as the only final & complete form of Leaves of Grass. The vol. with wh. you favoured me is not the Philadelphia edition, but I am in hopes that it may none the less be regarded as complete.from WM Rossetti 6 Oct. '85 enclosing po order L37.S 12 London 5 ENDSLEIGH GARDENS. N.W. 6 Oct. /85. Dear Whitman, As announced the other day, I have now the pleasure of enclosing Post Office orders for £ 31.12. It escaped me to mention in my previous letter that a Mr. Ernest Rhys not heretofore known to me (59 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London) called on me 2 or 3 weeks ago, wishingto obtain your address--wh. I gave him. He intended as I understood, to write to you with a view of entering into some terms regarding a London edition of your Poems. He seemed to me to have a genuine feeling of regard for yourself & your works, & he asked me to convey to you an impression of his feeling when next I shd. write. Yours always, W.M. Rossettisee notes Sept 16 1888 LONDON X NO 12 85 S.M.P U.S. CHARGE TO COLLECT 2 CENTS Walt Whitman 328 Mickle St. Camden New Jersey U.S.A. NEW YORK NOV 21 F.D. CAMDEN. N.J. NOV 22 5 PM 1885 [?]has been much out of health of late, & I fear still continues so. No doubt you have details from headquarters. Yours in reverence & affection, W.M. Rossetti 5 ENDSLEIGH GARDENS. N.W. 13 Novr. /85. Dear Whitman, I read with great concern the statement in your note of 20 Octr. that you are "in poorer health even than of late seasons": it w. give me & others the sincerest pleasure to receive pretty soon a statement to the reverse effect. Since I wrote last to you little seems to have been accumulating in my hands: I enclose an account of them: amounting to £ 31.19--Within the next few days I shall take the usual steps for postal remittance of this amount, & will send you the papers. In the letter of Miss L. Agnes Jones to me (more especially) there are some expressions wh. I think you will be pleased to read. I don't know this lady: she writes from 16 Nevern Road, Earl's Court, London. "The necessities of persons one knows, & may be bound to do all one can for, are so near & pressing that to give money to help-on the efforts of those who try to realize one's ideals is seldom possible; &, even in sign of one's gratitude to one who has partly reformed our ideals. is less so.___Yet Walt Whitman shd. have those to whom it is at once instinct & natural inevitable duty not to count any cost, or weigh this claim with that; but to break the alabaster, & pour the ointment, with no thought but of him. Has he not? This is a long apology for sending 5/-" it seemed so poor & ungenerous to send, unless I had said what gratitude it may yet stand for. Walt Whitman knows better than most that the sense of spiritual gain can seldom find the expression it longs for; & that it may forever remain unexpressed in material terms, & yet be present & abiding. I have so often wished to thank him. I grieve to say that Mrs. Gilchristus of his interview with you shortly before he crossed the Atlantic. We liked him, & wd. gladly have seen more of him, but this apparently will not be, for [?] he must now be just about to sail back from Liverpool to New York. 5 ENSLEIGH GARDENS. London N.W. 5 Jany. /86 Dear Whitman, I received your note of 30 Novr., & have been intending to write you some little while past. You & I have both suffered a loss in the death of that admirable woman Mrs. Gilchrist--a strong warm nature, full of strong sympathetic sense & frank cordiality. I look round the circle of my acquaintance for her equal. Much might be said on such a topic: but often a little is as good as much. The subscription has continuedgoing on, in much the same course as previously, as you will see from the enclosed list. In the Atheneum (& I believe Academy) of 2 Jany. a paragraph was put in, to serve as a reminder to any well-wishers: perhaps it may be expected that a few will respond, & that we may then regard our little movement as wound up. I shall always esteem it a privilege to have borne my small share in testifying the respect & gratitude to you wh. are due to you (I might say) from all open-minded men & women in the world--& from the shut-minded too, for the matter of that. My wife & children are away at Ventnor (Isle of Wight) as the London winter threatened to be too much for any wife's delicate chest. I expect to join them within the next few days, staying away some 3 weeks or so. As I may be a little hurried these last remaining days, it is possible that I may not just now pay in the £ 33.16.6. shown in the enclosed list--assuming as I do that this point wd. not be regarded as material. However, the utmost likely delay wd. not be long. Yours always truly, W.M. Rossetti I have seen 3 or 4 times Mr. Chas. Aldrich, of Webster City, Iowa: he toldRegistered [*see notes Sept 7 & 9--1888*] Walt Whitman 328 Mickle St Camden New Jersey U.S.A. R 1598 [*first instalment*] [*from WM Rossetti free will offering*]BROAD ST A [?] 29 BLOOMSBURY W.C. NEW YORK. N.Y. 9 - 7 1885 REG'Y. DIV.recd Jan: 25 '86 £ 33.S16.6 5 ENDSLEIGH GARDENS. N.W. 11 Janr. /86 Dear Whitman, This note is written beforehand, in expectation of my paying-in tomorrow at a Post-Office the £ 33.16.6. wh. I named to you in my recent letter. The postal order, on my obtaining it, will be enclosed herein, & dispatchedto you. Since the date of my last something further has come in: it will be accounted for at a future opportunity. On 13 Jany. I expect to leave London, & stay some four weeks with my family at the Clarendon Hotel, Ventnor, I. of Wight. Yours with affectionate regard, W.M. Rossettiletter from Rosetti May 17. '86 £ 29.18.3 fifth instalment 5 ENSLEIGH GARDENS. N.W. Dear Whitman, I beg now to enclose the papers in respect of the £ 29.18.3. wh. I notified the other day. Please excuse thelapse of a day or two beyond what I had then expected. Most truly yours, W.M. Rosetti £ s d R.R. Mead-King 5 - - ​ Mrs. Reinagle 3 - - R.G. Tat​ton & others in Oxford 6 - - ​University Miss Emma Phipson 2 - - Hon. Roden Noel 10 - 1 Miss Violet Paget 1 - - Honoria E. Thompson 1 - - A Friend [Caroline O. Cox] 5 - - Mrs. Fleming Jenkin 2. 2 - Clement Templeton 1. 2 - J.E. Dow 16. 8 Michael Sadler 1. 1. - L.G. Fry 2. 2. - 2 Mrs. Cowden Clarke 8. 4 3 Miss Novello 8. 4 J.H. Falk 1. 1. - W. Brogden 1. 1. - __________________ 33. 11. 3 __________________ Deduct 3. 13. 1 ___________________ 29. 18. 3Walt Whitman to William Rossetti [This letter follows on[,] after others printed in another volume. The series shows the progress of a movement, started by Mrs. Gilchrist & myself, for ordering direct from Whitman various copies of the new edition of his poems].to Rossetti fac simile 328 Mickle street Camden New Jersey US America May 30 1886 My dear friend Yours of May 17, enclosing the fifth instalment £ 29.18.3 is just now safely received, making altogether-- September 1885 £ 22.2.6 October 20 " 37.12. November 28 " 31.19. January 25. 1886 33.16. May 17 " 29.18.3 ____________ {pound symbol} 155.9.9 for which I indeed, indeed thank you, and all--We have beautiful sun- shiny weather here, & I am sitting by my open window writing this-- --If Herbert Gilchrist prints the circular you spoke of, send it me--send me three or four copies. I send best respects & love to my British contributor- friends--they have done me more good than they think for. Walt WhitmanW. B. £I I 0 Miss Gerstenberg 2 2 0 Miss Amy Levy 0 5 0 Oliver Elton, Oxford I I 0 Shadworth H. Hodgson 5 5 0 Henry James 5 0 0 Charles Pratt I I 0 Mrs. Pratt 0 5 0 A. Crompton 5 0 0 R. B. C. 5 0 0 L. A. J. 0 5 0 Miss Pease, [Annual] I 0 0 J. Johnston, M.D. I 0 0 Oscar Gridley 3 0 0 T. H. C. I I 0 G. H. M. I I 0 H. G. Dakyns 5 0 0 G. C. Macaulay 2 2 0 Ernest Myers I I 0 R. Louis Stevenson I I 0 R. Hannah 3 0 0 A. Sidgwick I 0 0 An Englishwoman [Annual] 3 0 0 Helen Zimmern 0 5 0 Leonard M. Brown [Annual] 5 0 0 Mr. and Mrs. Frank Darwin I 0 0 Michael Sadler I I 0 L. G. Fry 2 2 0 Mrs. Cowden Clarke 0 8 4 Miss Novello 0 8 4 H. J. Falk I I 0 John Fraser I I 0 Some Members of the Manchester Literary Club 3 3 0 J. Fitzgerald Molloy I 0 0 J. R. Williamson 0 I0 6 G. M. G. 2 0 0 L. W. 0 5 0 J. G. Dow 0 8 6 The Honble. Roden Noel 0 I0 0 Aldrich I 0 0 Havelock and Louie Ellis 0 5 0 G. R. Benson and others in Oxford University 4 0 0 £74 I9 8 £74 I9 8 R. G. Fulton 5 0 0 T. G. Leathes I 0 0 New College, Oxford:—Collected by A. H. Hawkins 0 I0 0 P. M. Wallace 0 5 0 D. S. MacColl 0 5 0 G. Whale I I 0 R. R. Meade-King 5 0 0 Mrs. Reinagle 3 0 0 R. G. Fulton and others in Oxford University 6 0 0 Miss Emma Phipson 2 0 0 Miss Violet Paget I 0 0 A Friend 5 0 0 Mrs. Fleming Jenkin 2 2 0 Clement Templeton I I 0 John Addington Symonds 5 0 0 J. S. Mann I I 0 Miss E. M. Abdy-Williams 2 0 0 A Friend 5 0 0 George Saintsbury 2 2 0 Mr. and Mrs. William Herford 2 2 0 Charles Aldrich I 0 0 A. Bolles Lee 0 8 6 Mrs. Gilchrist 2 2 0 W. M. Rossetti 2 0 0 Mrs. Rossetti 2 0 0 John Wallace I I 0 G. R. Rogerson I I 0 Miss Hamilton I 0 0 G. T. Glover 5 0 0 Professor Dowden 2 2 0 Charles Rowley, Jun. 2 2 0 W. A. Turner 2 2 0 Henry Boddington, Jun. I 0 0 C. Sheldon I I 0 Mrs. Riley I I 0 E. R. Pease 2 2 0 Rev. Lewis Campbell 3 0 0 W. H. Coffin I I 0 Henry Holmes 2 2 0 John Todhunter, M.D. 2 0 0 £I59 6 2 FINIS.W.M. Rossetti on Swinburne 5 ENDSLEIGH GARDENS. N.W. 16 [17] Novr. /86 Dear Sir, Your letter is full of kind & too flattering expressions, to wh. please believe that I am not insensible. If Chatto & Windus were by any possibility to think fit to reprint the Criticism on Swinburne, I shd. not have the least objection. It must be remembered however that the Criticism relates to a Swinburne of the past, rather considerably different from theSwinburne of the present, & various reasons might be suggested why reprinting wd. be regarded as undesirable. I wd. not myself take any steps in the matter, but leave it for any one else to deal with who thinks fit. Have not read the Criticism this longish while past, but dare say it is not worse than any other writings. Swinburne lives now a rather isolated life, away from my part of London. I very seldom see him (tho our feeling of friendship has suffered no abatement), & don't know what I cd. well say to him about "Under the Microscope." I am sure he is no longer enthusiastic about Whitman, & I doubt whether he even likes his writings at all. My own feelings on the subject remain unchanged, & I was much pleased at the reissue of my Selection--a much handsomer volume than the original one. X That Birth-song by Swinburne relates to my eldest daughter: I forget whether there is any allusion in it directly connecting it with my dedication to Blake: but at any rate the young lady came into the world in due course after the dedicatee of the B. & myself had become wife & husband. I am happy to say that both my wife & my daughter are alive. My wife however has for 1 3/4 year been an invalid from bronchitis attacks, & it is onlythis very morning that I saw her, along with that daughter & my son, off by train to the Riviera-- San Remo, or perhaps Mentone-- where they will remain I dare say till at any rate the end of March. Believe me Very truly yours, W.M. RossettiCAMDEN NEW JERSEY Wm M Rosetti 5 Endsleigh Gardens London nw EnglandWalt Whitman the American Poet THE PATH. OX 2559, NEW YORK.UNIFORM WITH MR. SWINBURNE'S POEMS. With Portrait and Autograph, in fcap. 8vo. price 5s. WALT WHITMAN'S POEMS (Leaves of Grass, Drum Taps, &c.) Selected and Edited by WILLIAM MICHAEL ROSSETTI. ***For twelve years the American poet Whitman has been the object of widespread detraction and of concentrated admiration. The admiration continues to gain ground, as evidenced of late by papers in the American Round Table, in the London Review, in the Fortnightly Review by Mr. M. D. Conway, in the Broadway by Mr. Robert Buchanan, and in the Chronicle by the editor of the selection announced above, as also by the recent publication of Whitman's last poem, from advance sheets, in Tinsley's Magazine.& colossal agglomeration of life in London --none the less felt this the interminable streets when all are asleep, & scarcely a passenger met athwart one's path. The interval when the streets are really deserted to this extent is but brief. I suppose from about 2 3/4 to 4 a.m. is the most vacant time. What you say about the insulting & [?] in fact ungrateful treatment wh. your poems continue to receive in America is deeply interesting, tho' painful. I suppose it is a very general if not universal experience that anything that is at once great & extremely novel encounters for some considerable time much more hostility than acceptance, & so far your experience is not surprising-- rather indeed a testimonial, when properly considered, to the great intrinsic value of your writings. But certainly 56 Euston Sq. London, N.W. 31 March Mt dear Mr. Whitman, Your very interesting & valued letter of 30 Jany. ought to have been answered before now. As you are willing to confess in it, however, to being an irregular correspondent I gladly avail myself of so tempting an opening for saying that I am the same--& shall feel confident that my delay is pardoned. I read with much zeal the poem you kindly sent me, with its deep sonata-like alterations of emotion. It was a peculiar pleasure to me to get acquainted with Mr. BurroughsBurroughs, to whom wd. you please remember me with great cordiality whenever the chance occurs. He may have told you--& indeed it cannot have needed telling--that you were a very principal subject of our discourse, & of my reiterated enquiries. It interests me to see in your letter that you have a habit of taking moonlight walks out of Washington: I used to find walks of this kind highly enjoyable, & have frequently indulged in them years ago. In my youth I was living in habits of daily & brotherly intimacy with various painters (Millais, Holman Hunt, &c); & from time to time we wd. all sally out, 6 or 7, say towards 11 at night, & pass the whole night, & sometimes the succeeding day as well, tramping about, & enjoying the varying effect of night, dawn, &c-- studied of course with peculiar interest, & directness of observation & purpose, by the painters: sometimes, instead of walking, we wd. row up the river from nightfall to day. There is a goodish deal of agreeable country round London: but unless one lives quite out in the suburbs, it takes miles of walking to get even to the beginning of anything green or rural. I can easily imagine that to walk out of Washington at night "into Virginia or Maryland" is an experience of a very different sort, in point of grandeur & impressiveness. Tho' indeed, from some points of view wh. you of all men realize most intensely, nothing surely can be more impressive than the unmeasured sizethe type of a true mother, guiding & nurturing all aright in her children, mind & body. The eldest son bids fair to have a distinguished & prosperous career as a mining engineer: a younger son is greatly set on being a painter. One of the daughters is just about grown up, the other, I suppose, 10 or 11 years of age.--Mr. J.A. Symonds I don't know personally: but, about the time when my selection from your Poems came out, he wrote to me (2 or 3 letters) showing himself to have been for some while past one of your very ardent admirers. Tennyson I have known for years, & like much: I think him deep-hearted & high-minded, tho it may be true (as has often been said, & sometimes not in a kindly it does seem that in degree & duration the obduracy of Americans agst. your work is something abnormal & unworthy --especially considering the spirit of intense patriotic love & national insight wh. pervades your book thro & thro. That America shd. be so wanting (in this matter at least) [of] in large receptiveness & quick intuition is distressing to those who love her--among whom I may humbly but truly profess myself. It seems as if she were even less capable than others of appreciating great work vital with the very marrow of her bones & corpuscles of her blood: perhaps this very affinity is partly the reason--but at any rate a bad & perverse reason. In this country there are of course very diverse knots of opinion, & schools of thinking & criticism, & to several of these yourworks are still an exasperation & an offense: but others accept & exalt you with all readiness of love & delight, & I think I may safely say that it is these wh. have in their holding the future of English opinion on such matters for some years to come.--But I will say no more on this tack. For myself (with others) who believe in you with the certainty of full conviction, all these considerations are poor & slight: the one thing is the work itself, & the maker of the work, which has a destiny as assured & as limitless a that of any other great product of the soul of nature. I have not met Profr. Dowden since last summer (or spring perhaps): he is seldom, I think, out of Ireland. What I saw of him I liked particularly. He seems an uncommonly young man to be a Professor--less then 30 to look at: & is in no common degree good-looking, pleasant, open,& sound- minded. There are few men, I shd. say, more likely to have their sympathies in literary matters sane & right --guided also by the fullest measure of lettered cultivation. Mrs. Gilchrist I dined with not many weeks ago. She seems to have fairly recovered from a very exhaustive & indeed dangerous illness that oppressed her of late (say from early autumn of 1870 to the late summer of 1871)-- only that she is not so capable as she used to be of continued mental or bodily strain. It was a pleasure to see her surrounded by her family.admire him enormously, whether one approves him or not--& to call him a Frenchman, or anything save an Italian, is meaningless) 2. Mazzini, the greatest of ideal statesmen--patriot-- 3. Garibaldi, the greatest & most flawless personal hero. spirit) that he is somewhat too self-centred, & morbidly sensitive. He hates all the vulgarizing aspects of fame, & some people find him present a very obtuse exterior to their advances or approaches: for myself, I can truly say my experience is the direct contrary. I think you & he wd. understand each other, & feel on a very friendly footing. Tennyson (as I dare say you know) is a remarkably fine manly person to look at, with a noble mould of face, & very powerful frame. He must be 6 foot 1 in height, I shd. suppose--but not now so erect as in his prime.--If you do at any time come to England, to see Tennyson or others, I need not say what a delight it wd. be to me to know you personally --& several of my friends wd. amplyshare my feeling. My vol. of Selections from American Poets doesn't seem likely to be published yet awhile. It has been completed for mos. past: but, as it is one vol. of a series, & others of the vols. are in course of printing, the printer may probably leave it over for a few mos. to come. I have in the briefest terms dedicated it to you (& hope you won't object). any other dedication --at least, if to any one on your side of the Atlantic--wd. be a fatuity. Believe me honoured to be called your friend, W.M. Rossetti I have no doubt you will have felt sorrow as I did--tho indeed sorrow is not fully the right word nor the right emotion--at reading lately of the death of Mazzini. I, who am 3/4 Italian in blood, have naturally a strong feeling on these subjects: & I regard Mazzini as the noblest of patriots, & the man to whom more than any other single person not even excepting Garibaldi, the lovers of Italian unity are beholden. It is often a pleasure to me to reflect that, with all the miserable oppression & depression under wh. she has so long been labouring, Italy has after all produced the 3 greatest public men (to my thinking such) of the last 100 years in Europe-- 1. Napoleon I, the greatest genius as a conqueror & ruler (I suppose any one is to be allowed to admirePOSTAL CARD WRITE THE ADDRESS ON THIS SIDE--THE MESSAGE N.J. LONDON C 7 PAID AP 70 Wm M Rossetti 56 Euston Sq WC London EnglandCamden N Jersey--USA March. 27 Letter of March 16 rec'd to day--Will write fully in a day or so--notify me, (by p. card will do) if you get the two vols I sent by mail March 15, (as I have feared they would be detained by P.O. for overweight) --I continue on about the same--have seen the D. News--rec'd letter to-day from Prof. D. WWat present with their mamma at [?] Gorleston near Yarmouth. With all affection to you & the Gilchrist family, Ever truly yours, W.M. Rossetti I shd. have said that the £ 4.12 was the only money now actually in my hands on your account. Have not heard from Dowden since I wrote you last. Excuse the hurried & scrappy note. 56 Euston Sq. N.W. 17 Aug. Dear Whitman, This day I have obtained a P.O. order for £ 4.12 payable to you. The order (as you are aware) does not pass thro' my own hands. Of the £ 4.12, half is the money of Mr. Cozens, to whom you have already sent the books. The other half is from a new subscriber, Jas. Anderson Rose, 11 Salisbury St., London, W.C.--He is a solicitor of some note, once Under-Sheriff of London, brother of an Aldermanwho has been Lord Mayor; is besides a great collector of engravings & other works of artistic (or literary) interest. He does not know your writings, but seems sincerely desirous of making some acquaintance with them. Wd. you kindly tell Mrs. Gilchrist that I have by me a letter of hers (undated) wh. was presented to me a month or so ago by a Mr. Carpenter--who paid two long visits at my house, & whom I liked much, obtaining from him numerous details that interested me extremely regarding yourself & the Gilchrists. I wd. have written to Mrs. G before now, but for incessant occupations, & in the last 2 mos much anxiety regarding my brother's state of health. He was lately in a bad way requiring a severe surgical operation, &, tho that went off rightly, he does not really adequately, & I feel by no means confident as to the final result. One great object has been to get him out of town to some suitable seaside house. I am in hopes that today this will be accomplished, more or less well. Please also tell Mrs. G that a son was born to me on 28 Feb: he & the little girl (tho the boy did at one time alarm us much) go on well, & arewd. like me to send over the various sums I have received for your books. I presume you wd. send the books direct to the purchasers: not but that I wd. receive & distribute them if really any object to you, but it wd. cause delay to all, &, & to me some work of a kind at wh. I am not particularly ready 56 Euston Sq. N.W. 4 Ap Dear Whitman, I write in haste, & especially for the business purpose named further on. Mrs. Gilchrist & Dowden (who happens just now to be in London) have seen your letter of 17 March, & doubtless appreciated it as I do. I have received also your post-card of 20 March, & the Two Rivulets wh. that announced.What I want to know is the precise fact about the prices &c of your books. The printed slip mentions only Leaves of Grass £1 ($5). Two Rivulets £1, Mem. during War s6/-, & all 3 for £ 2; & of each of these only 100 copies printed. Is it a fact then that a L. Grass is not anyhow obtainable at less than {pound symbol} nowadays? & that, when 100 copies are sold no more purchasers need apply? Wd. you kindly tell me precisely about all this. Were it not that I find the uncertainty about this most embarrassing, & [the] presumable chance of enlisting purchasers at such high prices much diminished, I shd. already have drawn up my proposed circular to start the scheme. Perhaps you wd. prefer to telegraph back in fewest words: but this as you prefer. Your poem printed in Atheneum of 1 April. Some minor details when next I write. Your affectionate W.M. Rossetti Please tell me also how youWALT WHITMAN. Many of the persons to whom this Circular is sent will be aware in March last, in the Atheneum and Daily News more especially, statements were printed regarding Mr. Whitman's circumstances in life. The annexed extract from a letter written by himself on the 17th March shows the precise facts of the matter, and the precise thing which he would wish to be done, viz:--that all persons who would like to possess his books, and thereby to contribute to his literary income, should come forward and order the books. The object of this Circular (which has been necessarily delayed some little while by interchange of letters to and from America) is to invite you to do this, The editions and prices are shown below: no other editions are procurable from the author. The books, it is understood, will be sent from America carriage free. A list of purchasers, as already notified to me, is also given over-page. Mr. Whitman's address is stated in his letter. The purchase-money can be sent direct to him; any cheques, orders, or drafts, being made payable by Messrs. Brown Brothers, Bankers, Philadelphia (corner of Chestnut and Strawberry streets), on Mr. Whitman's endorsement; or Post-Office International Money-Orders could be used. Or, if preferred, the amounts can be forwarded to me, and I will remit them to Mr. Whitman. I should receive with much pleasure any reply to this Circular; also any list (names and addresses) of persons of whom you may know likely to be interested in the matter, to whom I would thereupon send other copies of the Circular. WM. MICHAEL ROSSETTI. 56 Euston Square, London, N.W. 1st June 1876. LIST OF BOOKS. 1.--Leaves of Grass, one vol., with two Portraits and Autograph (contains all Whitman's Poetry as yet published, save what is comprised in No. 2). Price £1 (5 dollars). 2.--Two Rivulets, one vol., with Photograph Portraits and Autograph (contains some poetry and all the prose previously published; also 13 new poems, and the Memoranda during the War, and other new prose. Price £1 (5 dollars) 3.--Memoranda during the War. one vol., (same as in No. 2, but separately printed). Price 6s. (1.50 dollars).LIST OF PURCHASERS. £ s. d. £ s. d. W. T. Arnold 1 0 0 J. Leicester-Warren 5 0 0 Professor Atkinson 2 2 0 G. H. Lewes 2 0 0 Professor Armstrong 2 2 0 Harold Littledale 2 2 0 Miss Blind Vernon Lushington 5 0 0 W. Brockie 1 0 0 Godfrey Lushington 5 0 0 Eustace Balfour 2 0 0 Miss Moncrieff 1 0 0 A. G. B. 2 2 0 P. B. Marston 1 0 0 G. H Boughton 2 0 0 J. H. McCarthy 1 0 0 Rev. T. E. Brown 2 2 0 Mrs. Mathews 1 0 0 F. Madox Brown 2 0 0 N. MacColl 0 6 0 G. L. Cathcart 2 2 0 Hon. Roden Noel 2 2 0 A. G. Dew-Smith 3 0 0 J. T. Nettleship 2 0 0 Mrs. Deschamps 2 0 0 D. G. Rossetti 5 0 0 J. D. 2 2 0 W. M. Rossetti 5 0 0 Professor Dowden 8 0 6 C. W. Reynell 5 0 0 Edward Dannreuther 1 0 0 C. W. S. 2 0 0 Benjamin Eyre 2 0 0 Miss T. C. Simpson 2 0 0 F. S. Ellis 1 1 0 A. C. Swinburne 1 0 0 Geroge Fraser 2 0 0 W. B. Scott 5 0 0 G. W. Foote 3 0 0 J. A. Symonds E. W. Gosse 2 2 0 Bram. Stoker 2 2 0 Mrs. Gilchrist 5 0 0 George Saintsbury 2 2 0 P. R. G. 1 1 0 Dr. Todhunter 2 2 0 R. Hannah 1 0 0 George Wallis 2 2 0 F. Hueffer 1 0 0 R. R. Whitehead G. G. Hake 1 0 0 T. D. Westness Lady Hardy 2 0 0 R. Spence Watson 5 0 0 Lord Houghton 1 0 0 Alfred Webb 2 2 0 J. H. Ingram 1 0 0best, tho' a little costly. I received the other day a letter (11 Nov.) from Mr. Maroni, & shall answer at early convenience. Ought to have written before now to Mrs. Gilchrist but was not at first (am now) aware of her address, & always have a number of things to compete for my attention. Please remember us warmly to her & hers. Always yours, W.M. RossettiCAMDEN [?] 7 AM N.J. Wm M Rossetti 5 Endsleigh gardens Euston Road London nw EnglandCertified as Walt Whitman's writing by Wm. Rossetti, brother of D.G. Rossetti. Eva Channing.