The Whitman-Hartmann controversy

The facts in the relationship of Sadakichi Hartmann and Walt Whitman have never been clarified, particularly Hartmann's controversial interview with the poet and its publication in the «New York Herald», April 14, 1889. Of more importance was Hartmann's attempt to found a Whitman Society and the opposition of jealous Whitman associates who frustrated his efforts, although a Whitman Society was founded as the result of his initial work. Further, Hartmann's life-long interest in the poet and his various publications are not generally known. The introduction and edition of his writings will elucidate this literary association.