H ORA CE TRAU B E' L HIS LIFE" AND W“ ORK D A V I D K A fR sN E R j ' r E fl E R AUTHOR GE f nmszf ms AU TH O RI ZE D LIF E A ND L f S ‘ E E } M e P fl é i mh ad 52V E G M O NT AR S m B o o le Sh o ) N e w Y r k Wuskmgam S qu a r e; t , o CONTENTS C H AP TER I G o WHERE M Y HEART GOES Two BEE K M AN PLAC E EAR LY DAYS T H E M AN I N T H E MA K I N G WIT H WA LT WHI T M AN A N EX P ERI M ENT I N CO M M U NIS M COM RADE A N D LOV ER SOCIAL REV OLUTIONIST INTERNATIONALIST ’ I LL SEE IT A LL FROM SOM EWH ERE Digiiiz e d by Microsof t® FOREWORD ’ N prese nting this statement o f H orace Trau be l s o W life and w rk, hich is at once an appreciati on and a o o f o an interpret ti n his endeav rs , I have tried to accentuate the qualities of the man whose sign ifican ce t o me e m n o , at l ast , was easured t by his literary m b fie rce o achieve ent, but rather y the , dev ted and last i n o f or o m n e . g l ve he bore his fell w That love , that o o o f f s cial s ul his , that universality o his rare mind o o o o f they were the f undati n st nes his life ; and, b e o m o f m m l nded, they f r ed the keyst ne o his onu ental work . own o o to m As his intr ducti n this book i plies , w I o o h im H e Traubel kne that w uld write ab ut . read the second draft o f my manuscript W hich was com l te d m 19 1 o e e 6. m p in S pte ber, The b ok at that ti e om n ow o to in c prised what are Chapters F ur Twelve , o m e lusive . Early this year I res lved to bring y state m to to to ent up date, include his later years , and pub lish the record while he lived . To that end I raised a cash subscription list with considerable assistance from th ose most directly and personally interested in o b o f o Traub el . It is nly y reas n o such supp rt indi cate d m n o b to m o o w that I a w a le send y bo k f r ard . I was at work on the fin al draft of this book when the ’ n ews came o f T ra u b e l s death . That fact necessitated o f first o . slight revisi ns tenses , and the three chapters Otherwise my statement is intact in letter and spirit as Traubel saw it . Digitiz e d by Microsoft® 8 HORACE TRAUB EL ’ We o th b ok . Well, dear H race , here s e o at last o f o o You o f or talked it ften t gether . , y urself paid five o f b oo f or fiv ou ou these ks e children , and y said y o r m m You too ou w uld write you na e in the . said , , y were proud o f your friends when on e day a bunch of m in m o f m o m o . S a o . rders ca e o I pr ud the The f r al, m o ma o i e inent, lettered w rld y ign re this book as it g w f f o m . n w o o u . n o n red y But o atter You, a ay there om e m I o VV al s ewh re with Whit an, Bucke , ngers ll , little lace , will understand that what sings in the heart o m Y n o o b o w . ou cann t e f r ed int ords will k w now , ou o da o n ot o as y knew the ther y, that l ve , w rds , — su fii i n . the thing . Love that understands is self c e t DAV D I KARSNER . 2 1 m e 8 19 9 . Septe b r , o Y rk City. Digitiz e d by Microsoft® IN TR ODU CTI ON ’ V E been allowed to see this bit o f genuinely good ’ o of K arsn e r w rk s. But is Traubel worth such ? ’ serious attenti on On e o f K a rsn e r s be st friends ’ and a ma n who kn ows who s wh o in literature said to ’ h im : n o it : one day Believe me , boy, he s t entitled to ’ ” o - y u re wasting your time . But Karsner kept stub b o rn ly o n the job till he got it more or less satisf ac torily fin ish e d and seems to have some preposterous o n tion that he can secure a publisher f or it some day . m o Traubel hi self , while appreciating and recipr cating ’ K r n r H e a s e s o o to . dev ti n , has tried dissuade Karsner ’ said to Karsner Don t publish it now : wait fiv e years ” “ or o : Wh s . Karsner asked y Traubel replied ’ o : first ou m to F or two reas ns , it ll give y ti e study ’ m : o ou ou t and solidify yo ur state ent sec nd , it ll give y ” Wh o a chance to change your mind . y sh uld Karsner commit himself to an enthusiasm he might in a f e w years regret ? But he made light o f all entreaty and ? Wh o b o b o continued . would pu lish a bo k a ut Traubel It would have to be a man wh o believed in h im again st h man ? n o fate . W ere is there such a Traubel has Wh o market f or his own books . y sh uld there be any ’ market f or a book about h im? I v e been informed lately that Karsner intends writing about Dreiser . ’ man an d N ow, there s a the world wants enjoys being o m . a told ab ut . Dreiser has a arket And Dreiser r h im k o biographer will fin d a market waiting f o . I n w ’ o W a lot abo ut Trau be l s personal hist ry. hen he was 9 Digitiz e d by Microsoft® 10 HORACE TRAUB EL a young fellow he was a h ot advocate o f Whitmanism ’ w r mi h im and ent f o Walt s e ne es baldheaded . Walt self many times cautioned Traubel to hold his ” o to sa . o o . h rses , as he used y That is , g sl w That is , n m w s m o ot clai too much . But Traubel a i petu us in his fie r o b y pr paganda . Karsner is much as Trau el was in ll m a . ff b that But the circu stances are di erent . Trau el had a rich nut to crack . But Karsner has a shell with ’ ’ o u t a m u stifi e d Tr au be l s kernel . Walt s after fa e j o passionate protest . But n thing has happened in ’ ’ Trau be l K r n r o fir st s career to j ustify a s e s ch ice . The ’ thought I had in reading K arsn e r s quite flowin g and wa s m vivid narrative that it was a sha e, as his friend h im to o had warned , waste all that skill in a directi n w k n hich was li ely to foredoom it to oblivi on . Joh Burroughs years ago wrote Traubel a frank letter in which he said : That part of your wo rk which does ” n m m m A ot ake e laugh akes me ma d. t the best ’ T rau b e l o n to n o o s only kn w a ha dful f pe ple . And ’ even with that han dful of people he s on ly rated as ’ wn w Walt Whitman s errand b oy. His o riting i s o N either to tally ignored or wh lly despised . o maga m o zine in A erica w uld print anything that he writes . n f i T h Even the newspapers have o use or h m. o t e ’ c o o o da ow llege he s unc uth . Just the ther y he sh ed ’ ot ou old oo me a letter he d g starting y dear f l , ’ e o o o ld f o an and nding y u re a l ving ass , o c urse , but ” b m all .