ALS, one page, 7.75 x 4.5, May 21 [no year but likely circa 1880s]. Letter written from Camden, New Jersey, concerning an anonymous publication. In full: "Can you use this?—If used it will have to go in paper of May 28.—No name nor any signature must be appended.—Send me a proof without fail, & I will return at once—The price would be #10—and 25 proof slips of it & 10 copies containing it—If you can't use it please return to me at once without fail." The reverse is marked "Personal" in Whitman's hand. Matted with a portrait to an overall size of 13.25 x 12.25. In fine condition, with the upper left corner clipped off. Whitman's requirement for anonymity is revealing and salient—in 1855, he had anonymously published fawning endorsements of his own Leaves of Grass in multiple periodicals. A desirable, boldly penned letter from America's great poet.
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