Home of George Whitman

Note: you may wish to drive rather than walk to the last stop on this tour

One reason Wilde was excited to visit Philadelphia was that Camden, the home of the poet Walt Whitman, was nearby. George W. Childs (see stop #1) had invited Whitman to dinner on the evening of January 18, but Whitman declined, stating that he was an “invalid” unable to be out at night. Whitman did let it be known that he would be at home for visitors during the day. Wilde had longed for this visit since first reading Whitman’s work in 1868. Although the two men were poetically incompatible—Whitman was no fan of Wilde’s Aestheticism—they had a long and cordial visit. After his first visit, Wilde returned again in May, but for just one hour. Whitman’s description of Wilde as “a fine large handsome youngster” may have been a play to make Harry Stafford, the object of his affection, jealous.