Aug 01 2009
Whitman and Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton greatly admired Whitman. Her parents forbade her to read him when she was a child, considering him (and Poe) dissolute Bohemians. Wharton writes in her memoir, “A Further Glance,” that Leaves of Grass was “kept under lock and key, & brought out, like tobacco, only in the absence of the ‘the ladies'” (21). Wharton’s love of Whitman is evident in her published writings, especially her novel Summer, letter, and notes. She planned to write an essay about him and made notes, which are included in Wharton Archive at the Beinecke Library, Yale University. The record may be viewed through the following link.
http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/saxon/SaxonServlet?style=http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/saxon/EAD/yul.ead2002.xhtml.xsl&source=http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/fedora/get/beinecke:wharton/EAD&big=y&view=c01_1#SI