Jun 20, 2019 - Sale 2514

Sale 2514 - Lot 23

Unsold
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
WALT WHITMAN (1819-1892)


Signature, on a holograph address panel, addressed to socialist philosopher and sexual reformer Edward Carpenter.

1 page, 6 3/4x11 1/2 inches, 17x29 cm, moderate chipping to side edges, folds with minor loss to text, faint scattered soiling, cancelled 10-cent postage stamp showing profile of Thomas Jefferson at upper right. Camden, [7 December 1888: from postmark.]

Additional Details


Edward Carpenter / Millthorpe / near Chesterfield / England / Walt Whitman / Camden N.J. / America."
Whitman's letter to Carpenter, once contained in the envelope of which the present lot was part, discussed health problems and literary projects, and was dated December 6 and 7, 1888: ". . . I . . . have bro't out a little book 'November Boughs' . . . . Also am finishing a big Vol. comprehending all my stuff, poems & prose, makes ab't 900 pages [Complete Poems & Prose (1888)]. . . . Love to you, dear friend."
Edward Carpenter (1844-1929) was a British writer and disciple of Whitman whose activism promoted social justice and same-sex love. (see lots 6 and 7)