Thayer & Eldridge to Walt Whitman, 1 December 1860

About This Item

Title: Thayer & Eldridge to Walt Whitman, 1 December 1860
Date: December 1, 1860
Creator(s): Thayer & Eldridge
Whitman Archive ID: loc.00581
Source: Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Transcribed from digital images or a microfilm reproduction of the original item. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
Contributors to digital file: Elizabeth Lorang Blake Bronson-Bartlett Eric Conrad Kathryn Kruger Nick Krauter
Cite this page: Eldridge, Thayer &. "Thayer & Eldridge to Walt Whitman, 1 December 1860." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 15 February 2026. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
Source File: loc.00581.xml (TEI)

loc.00581.001.jpg Boston December 1st, 1860 Dear Walt,

Things look immensely dubious today. Can't tell you anything encouraging at present. We1 are working hard. Do not use the check yet2.—Will write you again Monday or Tuesday.

Hoping for the best good of us all we remain your friends & brothers T&E—

P.S.—My wife sends her warm regards to you. She desires much to see you. W.W.T.

Notes

1. Thayer and Eldridge was the Boston publishing firm responsible for the third edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (1860). For more on Whitman's relationship with Thayer and Eldridge see "Thayer, William Wilde (1829–1896) and Charles W. Eldridge (1837–1903)." [back]
2. Thayer and Eldridge advanced Whitman a check for his proposed volume of poetry The Banner At Day-Break; however, the firm's finances were so precarious by the winter of 1860 that they cautioned Whitman not to cash it. [back]