The Correspondence: Volume III: 1876-1885

In discussing letter-writing, Whitman made his own views clear. Simplicity and naturalness were his guidelines. I like my letters to be personal - very personal - and then stop. This collection of nearly 3,000 letters written over a half century reveals Whitman the man as no other documents can. Volume III covers the years in which Whitman radiated a personal and artistic magnetism, despite the paralysis that struck him in 1873. This period was full of important events, including the attempted censoring of Leaves of Grass, Whitman’s renewed friendship with William D. O'Connor, and the arrival in America of Whitman’s unrequited lover, Anne Gilchrist.