Anne Gilchrist – författare

Probably there are few who to-day question the propriety of publishing the love-letters of eminent persons a generation after the deaths of both parties to the correspondence. When one recalls the published love-letters of Abelard, of Dorothy Osborne, of Lady Hamilton, of Mary Wollstonecraft, of Margaret Fuller, of George Sand, Bismarck, Shelley, Victor Hugo, Edgar Allan Poe, and—to mention only one more illustrious example—of the Brownings, one must needs look upon this form of presenting biographical material as a well-established, if not a valuable, convention of letters.As to the particular set of letters presented to the reader in this volume, a word of explanation and history may be required. Most of these letters are from Anne Gilchrist to Walt Whitman, a few are replies to her letters, and a few are letters from her children to Whitman. Mrs. Gilchrist died in 1885. When, two years later, her son, Herbert Harlakenden Gilchrist, was collecting material for his interesting biography of his mother, Whitman was asked for the letters that she had written to him—or rather for extracts from them. In reply to this request the poet said, "I do not know that I can furnish any good reason, but I feel to keep these utterances exclusively to myself. But I cannot let your book go to press without at least saying—and wishing it put on record—that among the perfect women I have met (and it has been my unspeakably good fortune to have had the very best, for mother, sisters, and friends) I have known none more perfect in every relation, than my dear, dear friend, Anne Gilchrist.

"e;I yield myself up to you... my soul, my body, my life."e;When English writer Anne Gilchrist first read Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, her life was irrevocably changed. While many of her contemporaries dismissed the work as scandalous, Gilchrist saw the "e;Voice of the New World."e; What followed was a decade-spanning correspondence that offers a rare glimpse into the private lives of two brilliant minds. Gilchrist's letters are a passionate, often heartbreaking declaration of love and devotion to a man she had never met, while Whitman's responses reveal his characteristic warmth, caution, and deep respect for the woman who became his most ardent defender in the British Isles. This collection is a hauntingly beautiful testament to the power of literature to bridge oceans and souls. The "e;Woman's Estimate"e; of Whitman: Anne Gilchrist was the first woman to publicly and intelligently defend Whitman's controversial poetry. Her essay, "e;A Woman's Estimate of Walt Whitman,"e; included in this volume's context, shattered the Victorian notion that his work was "e;unfit"e; for female readers, arguing instead for its profound spiritual and physiological truth. A Study in Unrequited Devotion: The correspondence captures the tension between Gilchrist's intense romantic longing and Whitman's "e;democratic"e; detachment. Her eventual move to America with her children to be near him marks one of the most daring acts of literary devotion in history, transforming their relationship from paper to reality. Why It Is a Biographical Essential: These letters provide a crucial "e;missing piece"e; in the study of Walt Whitman's character and his reception abroad. Beyond the biography, it is a masterclass in the art of letter-writing a lost form of intimacy that reveals the raw, unfiltered emotions of a woman who dared to love a poet more than she loved the conventions of her time. Discover the hearts behind the poems. Purchase "e;The Letters of Anne Gilchrist and Walt Whitman"e; today.