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Correspondence
Letter from Thomas Jefferson Whitman to Walt Whitman, 11 September 1885
St. Louis,
Sept. 11th 1885
My dear Walt
Enclosed please find check for $10—payable to your order This check is sent by Mr Chaphe 1 he is so much pleased with his books.
We are getting on about in the usual manner—all well—I am pretty busy—but still hope to get away long enough to make you all a visit
Weather here just perfect for the last few days—Hat and Jess doing the "Exposition" which has just opened 2 —they say tis first class
Glad to see that you are all right again—saw a little notice in last evenings paper stating this fact 3 —
Have just received a telegram from Horace Tarr of New York (Mr Lane's nephew) 4 stating that he would call on me to-day—shall be glad to see him—
All send love
Jeff
About the Text
The text presented here is derived from Dennis Berthold and Kenneth Price, eds., Dear Brother Walt: The Letters of Thomas Jefferson Whitman (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1984). For a detailed description of discrepancies between this electronic edition and the print source, see our statement of editorial policy .
The manuscript of this letter, dated September 11, 1885, is held in the Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.
For more information on the letters of Thomas Jefferson Whitman, see Dennis Berthold and Kenneth Price's introduction to the print edition.
Notes
1. See Letter from Thomas Jefferson Whitman to Walt Whitman, 23 February 1885. (Back)
2. The second annual St. Louis Exposition opened on September 9, 1885, in a downtown block called Missouri Park. It featured music, amusements, art galleries, and commercial displays, and attracted 750,000 people. (Back)
3. "Walt Whitman writes to his London friends as follows: 'Fortunately, I have a good, faithful young Jersey woman and friend, Mary Davis, who cooks for me and vigilantly sees to me' " ( St. Louis Post-Dispatch , September 10, 1885). This item is quoted from a letter of WW's to Herbert Gilchrist, August 1, 1885 ( Correspondence , III, 399). (Back)
4. See Letter from Thomas Jefferson Whitman to Walt Whitman, 9 May 1863. Tarr was now a journalist. He and Jeff evidently maintained close association during Jeff's last four or five years of life (Tarr to WW, December 1, 1890 [Feinberg]). For Lane, see Letter from Thomas Jefferson Whitman to Walt Whitman, 13 January 1863. (Back)
Whitman Archive ID
yal.00088