Letters Written by Walt Whitman to his Mother, 1866-1872

The sentimental value of these letters from Walt Whitman to his mother is increased by our knowledge of her influence upon the poet and his poetry. This influence, emotional and not intellectual, was one of the most important forces of his life. Born in 1793, Louisa Van Velsor, the daughter of a Long Island farmer and his Welsh wife, grew up, as Perry says, almost illiterate. In 1816, Louisa married Walter Whitman, an itinerant carpenter, and settled In West Hills for a while. The next twenty ye