Miscellany

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The Miscellany section of the Charles E. Feinberg collection of Walt Whitman Papers contains a wealth of varied and fascinating materials in print and handwritten formats. Spanning from 1834 to 1918, the Miscellany includes autographs, correspondence, calling cards, programs, invitations, scrapbooks with clippings and leaves from trees, railroad and ferry tickets, marginalia and annotated items, labels, wrappers, property and contracting records, and business, real estate, tax, employment, investment, and other types of financial papers, all offering evidence about Whitman’s life and the activities of those who were close to him. There are also images of Whitman, young and old.

The materials offer bits and pieces, hints and insights, into many phases and interests across Walt Whitman’s lifetime and continuing beyond his 1892 death. There is evidence of his 1850s work in Brooklyn as a carpenter and contractor; his 1862 military passes to visit Army camps; the 1863 Christian Commission certificate for volunteering in Civil War military hospitals; his 1866 appointment for civil service work in the Attorney General’s office in Washington, D.C.; invitations to celebrations of his birthday during his Camden-Philadelphia years; annotated maps indicating travels; evidence of help he received to acquire a horse and buggy to aid in his mobility in old age; a copy of his will; and his sketched design for the Whitman burial vault in Harleigh Cemetery, Camden, New Jersey. Later materials include cigar box lids commercially commemorating Whitman as a literary celebrity.

The items are arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material.

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