Whitman, Walt. Envelope signed ("Walt Whitman"), and inscribed "Autumn Leaves ... for Miss Chevalier"

WHITMAN, WALT

ENVELOPE SIGNED ("WALT WHITMAN"), AND INSCRIBED "AUTUMN LEAVES ... FOR MISS CHEVALIER" 

Brown envelope (6 x 8 ½ in.; 154 x 216 mm), (Camden, N.J.), October 1878, with a small collection of about 12 pressed leaves of varying types and sizes; some minor handling wear, as expected. 

A charming autumnal gift from "America's poet"

Though the identity of the recipient is not known, near contemporary sources make reference to "the Chevaliers" as some elderly women who lived across the street from Whitman in Camden. 

LITERATURE:

Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Ted Genoways (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2004), p. 53