FEINBERG/WHITMAN LITERARY FILE BOOK FILE--L of G (reprint 1919) Correspondence Box 22 Folder 25 200 Elm street Camden N.J Oct 14 -1919 Dear Tom: I know the world has changed to you also- To me it seems to have shrunk-I know that this is delusion. That soon I will recover my sense of the unbreakableness of life. It is only that I have reached a place where my old methods do not work and I have not yet learned to use the new ones unfailinglySmall and Maynard once had the 1855 steel plate. Inferentially Doubleday Page now have it. But I dont know- You know it must be immeasurably difficult for me to refuse you anything. I'm terribly sorry that You thought of this facsimile business. I can only say no about the Emerson letter. Now don't sit up nights and think of something harder still! I thought a merciful man was easy on his friends. Yours ever Anne. [*Traubel*]Oct. 15, 1919 Messrs. Doublday, Page & Co. Publishers, New York, N. Y. Gentlemen: I am interested in publishing a memorial of the Whitman Centennary, which will be dedicated to Horace Traubel. Could you furnish me with 500 impressions of the Whitman steel engraving used by you (1855)? This could be printed on plate or india paper, whichever would be best to handle for you. I enclose sheet of paper showing the position of the plate. If you think favorably of this, please give me price in your reply. I have been President of the Walt Whitman Fellowship International for twenty years and would refer you to Mrs. Anne Traubel or to Mr. Thomas B. Harned, to whom I am well known. Trusting you will reply at an early date, I remain, Yours very truly,TELEPHONE BEACH 56331 DR. GUSTAVE P. WIKSELL DENTIST 120 BOYLSTON STREET ROOM 409 BOSTON, MASS., Oct 16, 19 Dear Tom-- I suppose she thinks she is being prudent and foxy-- but is only a damn fool-- It is hell trying to do anything for a woman-- Yes dear boy the sweet day we all had together--may we not have another before long? My nephew has made a great success in Washington--leading man on a [drunk?] and he stepped into his place--all papers gave him a big notice. Love, WiksellNEW YORK OFFICE 230 FIFTH AVENUE FOREIGN OFFICES PARIS, FRANCE, 17 RUE DE L'ECHIQUIER. MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, 66 FAULKNER STREET. CHEMNITZ, GERMANY, 25 THEATRE STRASSE. ST. GALL (ST. FIDEN) SWITZERLAND. WILLIAM F. GABLE & CO. DEPARTMENT STORE 1318-20-22-24-26-28-30 ELEVENTH AVE ALTOONA, PA. ESTABLISHED 1884 November 17, 1919. Mr. Thomas B. Mosher, Master Publisher, Portland, Maine. Dear Mosher: Ever since the receipt of your interesting favor with outline of our agreement on the publication of the 1855 Reprint of Whitman's Leaves of Grass, I've been wanting to write to you. Perhaps I did write you that on my last visit to the Famr, I had a complete knock-out, physically and financially by the dis- covery that my son who was in charge of Glen Gable Farms had involved me heavily in debt. This was unknown to me and was a complete surprise. I happen to be one of those fellows who happen to have enough resources to simply have to pay my debts! This has been a great worry to me, for it has taken money that I wanted to do some things with--one was to improve the house at the Farm and another was to start my Library Building Fund. All my life I've been having day dreams about a Fireproof Lib- rary Building with some ideas in its construction and arrange- ment, different from most Library Buildings. I will now have to postpone that plan again. I had a visit the other day from Mr. Arthur H. Clark of The Arthur H. Clark Co., Publishers and Book Sellers, Cleveland, Ohio. In our chats about books and bookmen, some very complimentary things were said about you. They all concede to you the front seat as the most literary of all our Publishers and a Master Writer of Prefaces to your high class publications. I've been kept so busy that I have not yet been able to place my hands on my 1855 Leaves of Grass. It is safe somewhere in the many piles of books in boxes, etc., and I hope to come across it soon. I am much disappointed over this delay, for I wanted you to see my copy. Your mention in your Catalogues of my connection with you in the publication of the Whitman Reprint is very complimentary and I find myself strutting around on stilts! Will you please send -- 2 -- me a few extra copies to send out to some friends? I've had three different bookmen write me about this and suggesting that I do some similar thing with them!! Mr. Clark said your association with Thomas B. Mosher is fine, but I would be mighty careful about some of the others!! That is the way I feel too. This is just a hurried note to you today and with it goes my heartiest greetings and good wishes. Your sincere friend, William F. Gable.DEPARTMENT OF CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BOSTON, MASS. November 18, 1919. My dear Mr. Mosher:--- I enclose a copy of the little broadside of Emerson's letter to Whitman; and, in case you should want to reprint it in some degree of resemblance to its original form, I add a few details. The line of italics at the top seems to be about Long Primer size, enclosed in square brackets. The space between this line and the first line of the letter is six millimetres; in the middle of this space is a short line, four millimetres long. The indentations are all of four millimetres; the date is indented four millimetres from the right hand margin, as is the signature. The signature itself is in capitals and the words Concord, Dear Sir, Leaves of Grass and Walt Whitman are in capitals and small capitals; the words Walt Whitman are placed one line below the signature. I think we agreed that the text of the letter is printed in the same type as the text of the Leaves. Very truly yours, J. E. Lodge Curator. Thomas Bird Mosher, Esq., Portland [K], Maine.NEW YORK OFFICE 230 FIFTH AVENUE FOREIGN OFFICES PARIS, FRANCE, 17 RUE DE L'ECHIQUIER. MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, 66 FAULKNER STREET. CHEMNITZ, GERMANY, 25 THEATRE STRASSE. ST. GALL (ST. FIDEN) SWITZERLAND. WILLIAM F. GABLE & CO. DEPARTMENT STORE 1318-20-22-24-26-28-30 ELEVENTH AVE ALTOONA, PA. ESTABLISHED 1884 November 28, Friday 1919 Mr. Thomas B. Mosher, Master Publisher, Portland, Maine. Dear Mosher: It is always a pleasure to get one of your good letters and I thank you for your favor of November 22nd. I congrat- ulate you on over[-]coming the difficulty with printers, binders, dye cutters, paper makers, etc. I have some idea of the task it was and you showed your skill in mastering the situation. I thank you for sending me a proof of the Dedication page of your forthcoming Leaves of Grass Reprint and I think it is beautiful. Beautifully worded and beautifully printed--I can make no suggestions. Your work always is perfect. In this dedicatory page in the word "Grave- side"--what should be a v in grave looks to me like a y. Perhaps I am mistake, but thought I would call your attention to it. Let me thank you for the Catalogues received, which I am glad to have and will use. It is very good of you to think of mentioning my name in the book itself, but I really think I do not deserve it, for I feel greatly honored in having my name connected with yours on the title page. What I have done is so little and of the commercial variety that it does not deserve mention. As to the number of books to send me, I hardly know what to say. Suppose I say 25 of the American White Wove Paper, 20 of the Van Gelder Hand Made Paper and 10 of the Japan Vellum. If this looks out of proportion to you, adjust it as you think best and all will be well.NEW YORK OFFICE 230 FIFTH AVENUE FOREIGN OFFICES PARIS, FRANCE, 17 RUE DE L'ECHIQUIER. MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, 66 FAULKNER STREET. CHEMNITZ, GERMANY, 25 THEATRE STRASSE. ST. GALL (ST. FIDEN) SWITZERLAND. WILLIAM F. GABLE & CO. DEPARTMENT STORE 1318-20-22-24-26-28-30 ELEVENTH AVE ALTOONA, PA. ESTABLISHED 1884 December 4, 1919. Mr. Thomas B. Mosher, Master Publisher, Portland, Maine. Dear Mosher: Yours of December 1st., just to hand and I was much pleased to hear from you and thank you for en- closing a copy of your [i]Introduction and page of dedication to your forthcoming Reprint of the 1855 Leaves of Grass. The In Memoriam is a beautiful page. Your [i]Introduc- tion is of the same high class literary work that you have always done on all your books. I read it aloud to the House of the Seven Gables last [*We have 7 children, now men & women however, but nevertheless-- Seven Gables!*] evening and it was much enjoyed. Section two of your first page of the introduction is beautiful. What you write about your first interest in Whit- man's writings, I like very much, as I do indeed, the entire seven pages. I am glad you quoted from Henry B. Rankin's Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln. I have an auto- graphed copy of this in my Lincoln Collection and Horace enjoyed reading the copy I sent him, as he mentioned it often in his letters to me. I am pleased to see what you quoted from a letter by Frank Sanborn. I have most of his works, which he beautifully inscribed for my Private Library. I personally received several letters from him and now have in my Collection 15 or 20 original Auto- graph Letters of John Brown, Jr. to Sanborn. Charles E. Goodspeed of Boston prepared for me an extra il- lustrated Set of Sanborn's Life of John Brown,--but I am wandering away from my subject.-------2------------- I will however, take the liberty of enclosing a copy of an Autograph Letter of Walt Whitman that I have in my Collection, in which he speaks most interestingly of Emerson. Thought you might like to have the enclosed copy. You have made the sheets of your "[i]Introduction" still more valuable to me by the note in your autograph on the lat page, and I thank you for including me with those who are to have a separate copy of this introduction. I will indeed be glad to have it. The sample sheet of paper you are going to use, is fine and I congratulate you on being able to get it. I fully agree with you about the 25 percent. discount. It is all you ought to allow any one and book sel- lers cannot expect the profit on books of the qual- ity you produce, that they can get on the cheaper "best sellers". It is entirely a different proposi- tion. I am glad that you approve my plan to send the books to Mr. Arthur H. Clark. Your inquiry as to what the F in my name stands for, will say that it is Francis. I seldom use it in full, but if you prefer to do so on the title page I will of course agree to it. I will feel quite im- portant with my name associated with yours in that way. You know Horace used to say two names were better than three and one name better than two. I told a correspondent of mind that I wished he would not be so formal in addressing me as "My dear Mr. Gable". The next letter I got from him, he start- ed it with: "Hello Bill". It seems to be you will perform a Herculean task if you get this edition out by December 15th. Doubly so under present conditions and it seems to me like a big job even under favorable conditions. The par- agraph in your letter about present conditions is only too true. All we can do is to hope for better things. The closing complimentary sentence in your paragraph surprised me when I came to it and pleased the family very much! If there is anything I can do for you at this time, please let me know, but I feel rather hopeless, as the work you have on hand requires your personal attention. With heartiest good wishes, I am always, Yours sincerely, William F. Gable.(COPY) Rand, Avery & Co. Printers. Boston, Sept. 24, 1881. Dear friend: Yours rec'd--I am now back here finishing up-- only staid a few days in Concord, but they were mark'd dates. Sunday, Emerson & his wife, son Edward & wife, etc. gave me a dinner--two hours--everything just right every way--a dozen people there (the family & relatives)--for my part I thought the old man in his smiling and alert quietude & with- drawnness (he has a good color in his face & ate just as much dinner as any body) more elo- quent, grand, appropriate & impressive than ever--more indeed than could be described-- Isn't it comforting that I have had--in the Sunset as it were--so many significant, affectionate hours with him under such quiet beautiful, appropriate circumstances? The book is done & will be in the market in a month or so--all about it has proceeded satisfactorily--& I have had my own way in everything--the old name "Leaves of Grass" is retained--it will be a $2 book-- I shall probably go on to New York in about a week--shall stay at Johnston's (address me there Mott avenue & 149th Street N.Y. City) about a week or ten days----Be- sides this general Death-gloom of the nation--have you heard of the sudden & dreadful death of our young friend Beatrice Gilchrist in performing some chemical experiment with ether?-------- Joaquin Miller is here--is with me every day--Longfellow has been to see me--- I have met O.W. Holmes & old Mr. James. With Love, Walt WhitmanTELEPHONE BEACH 56331 DR. GUSTAVE P. WIKSELL DENTIST 120 BOYLSTON STREET ROM 409 BOSTON, MASS., Dec 27, 19 Dear Tom: The books are caught in the Xmas logjam but are now on their way. I sent one to Frederick Reid in Calif and one to Bernard Weinig who paid the largest part of Horace's funeral expenses. He is one good fellow, he lives 375 Fulton St. Brooklyn You will be surprised to see my 1855 beside yours it looks equally fresh. I think the portrait a great success. You struck 12 on the whole job. The Traubel dinner was a splendid affair (104 present) Edwin Markham and John Haynes Holmes made fine talks. All Platts Whitman stuff was sold Monday. Love, PercivalTELEPHONE BEACH 56331 DR. GUSTAVE P. WIKSELL DENTIST 120 BOYLSTON STREET ROM 409 BOSTON, MASS., Dec. 28, 19 Dear Tom, Mayard had Hollyns copy L of G 1855 which Hollyns told him was the first copy ever handed to anyone as Walt came out of the binders with a bundle of the books. Hollyns at that time was with the McRae office. I suppose I can have my sheets bound by your binder at any time I am ready? I only got one item in the Platt sale. I am convinced that J. is not all you think her, in fact less than I thought her to be-- am[?]. The Japan is a beautiful thing. I should like to present Bazalgritte with a copy of the 6.00 one[?] if he has not ordered one. Send me two more copies. Love, PercivalTELEPHONE BEACH 56331 DR. GUSTAVE P. WIKSELL DENTIST 120 BOYLSTON STREET ROM 409 BOSTON, MASS., Dec. 31, '19 Dear Tom, Yes you may send the check to me if you want to tho' Mr. Geo. [T.?] Bowman is perfectly all right. I will get the certificate for you. How stupid we all were in re the Emerson letter. All Anne was afraid of was its loss by mail or express and if you have told her to get a photo of it she need not have taken her eye off of it. I was reading "Amphora” last night. What a book of delights [furor?] it will be. In my extra illustrating of the 1855 I want your photo if you do not object. Have you one--or will you sit with me when you come up? I have one of Gable Horace and me together. Love, Percival[*Traubel 2*] March 10. 1920 Dear Tom: Thanks you for the books: for all information and for the book section of the New York Sun. Your friends are good to you and the best "goodness" is such presentation as Tom Drier made in a recent Vagabond. I like such the best of all.I had not seen the reincarnation of the 1855 until now. Percival brought down the sheets in December when he cam to Horace's birthday party and no matter how profound an interest the loose makings aroused, the impression could only be partial. There is nothing partial about my feeling now. Mr. Gable sent me a copy of the medallion Tait Mackensie made for the Franklin Sun fellows. Have you that? I like it very much. I like the jollity. Mr. Austin Needham has made a medallion of Horace as well as the bust. The bust is youthful and lovely, tender, and you get the Holy Grail ideaat once. The medallion shows you the man who knew that an empty Grail was as useless as any other empty thing and to drink of that cup he must fill it with his own blood. Tom, you once said if I worked to write and would show you my stuff you would tell me, things necessary to know about it. Tell me about this one. Anne118 Gemenway Street My dear Mr. Mosher:- If I understand you correctly, you wish to know the exact position of the words Leaves of Grass. as printed on the cover of my paper-bound copy of the Leaves. A line drawn horizontally throughthe middle of the L and the Y in this title, lies 5 3/4" from the bottom edge of the cover, or 5 1/2" from the top. The stem of the L is 1 5/16" from the left- hand edge of the cover; the center of the period at the end of the title is 1 3/4" from the right-hand edge. The engraving of W. W. is printed on very thing paper which is mounted on much thicker paper. The plate- work shows on the thick paper only: apparently the printing was done after the thin paper had been mounted. I have been out of town since you were here, which accounts for my delay in answering your letter and also for the fact that I have learned nothing more about the Emerson and Thoreau copies of the Leaves. If I can find out about them, however, I shall gladly let you know. Very truly yours, J. E. Lodge.