Charles W. Chesnutt to Horace Traubel, 6 November 1905
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CHAS. W. CHESNUTT
1005 WILLIAMSON BUILDING
CLEVELAND, O.
Cleveland, November 6, 1905.
Horace Traubel, Esq.,
1624 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.
My dear Mr. Traubel:-
On September 16th last I addressed you a letter, in which I enclosed a money order for $2.25, for a copy of the popular edition of "Leaves of Grass" and a copy of "Chants Communal." As I have not received the books, I have been wondering if my letter miscarried or was perhaps mislaid after reaching its destination. If you will kindly let me know whether it came to hand or not, I shall be obliged.
Did you get a copy of "The Colonel's Dream"? I am under the impression that I requested my publishers to send it, though I presume you are on their list.1 I hope the book, or at least my motive in writing it, will commend itself to you. I have just been reading your appreciation of Henry Irving; it is very fine and very just.2 The world is better because he lived.
Sincerely yours, Chas. W. Chesnutt. Sent a second copy Chants Nov 7Correspondent: Horace Traubel (1858–1919) was an American poet, essayist, and editor of The Conservator, a journal designed to promote Walt Whitman's works and reputation. Traubel was also a dedicated Socialist and one of the founders of the socialist weekly newspaper The Worker. He is best known for being Walt Whitman's literary executor and author of a nine-volume biography of Whitman's final four years (1888–1892), entitled With Walt Whitman in Camden.
1. The Colonel's Dream (New York: Doubleday, Page, & Company, 1905) was Chesnutt's last published novel. [back]
2. Horace Traubel published a memorial of Sir Henry Irving (1838–1905), titled "Play Things," in the October 1905 issue of the Conservator. Irving was a renowned English actor and manager at the Lyceum Theater, where he eventually established his own company. Throughout his lifetime, he starred in several shows, including Hamlet, The Bells, and Queen Mary ("Play Things," The Conservator 17, no. 8 [October 1905]: 121–122). [back]
