Yours came this morning, & I am satisfied & agreeable—Edward Wilkins (tell me more ab't him—is he a Canadian?) should understand that it is not a soft or profitable job, & some features not very nice either—I have tho't of dispensing any caretaker, but I believe I get no nearer to even the middling-get-along-condition-of-myself before this spell—with a sort of prospect (if I live at all) of getting in a more immobile situation than ever—(am indeed in a pretty bad way now)—But you & Horace manage it, & I shall be docile—If E W is indeed the proper one & willing I shall be glad enough to have him—
I rec'd a nice letter f'm E C Stedman (44 East 26th St New York) this mn'g—He likes Nov. B." and has considerable to say of my "fame"—(I am not sure but we are to put E C S on our list of real permanent friends & understanders)—
I suppose you have got (or will soon get) the Springfield Republican short notice of Nov: B—I rec'd a note from Hamlin Garland, Jamaica Plain, Mass. asking me to send Nov. B. to W D Howells, wh' I did.
I am sitting in my big chair by the oak wood fire as I write—it is a darkish, damp, heavy-air'd day & I am not feeling my easiest—Mr Ingram has just been in & bo't a copy of Nov: B. for a Quakeress friend, & got some loose reading matter for a prisoner in jail I send to sometimes—my head is weighty & sore to-day—
Dave McKay is behaving very well—he takes the whole ed'n, & pays me $313.50 on Jan 10 '89—& pays the binder—I retain 100 (printed 1100)—Did I tell you I rec'd a strong affectionate literary & personal letter from Kennedy—I repeat that last photo of you in hat &c. is one of the very best could be made—there is nothing better made here or in N Y—
Walt Whitman