Horace Traubel

Born in Camden, New Jersey, in 1858, Horace Traubel grew into a writer, editor, and literary figure deeply involved in the cultural life around Walt Whitman. He became one of Whitman’s closest companions and is remembered above all for recording the poet’s daily conversations during the last years of Whitman’s life.

Those records became With Walt Whitman in Camden, a major multi-volume work that gives readers an unusually intimate picture of Whitman’s personality, opinions, and everyday habits. Traubel also worked as a journalist and publisher, and sources on his life note his interest in social reform as well as literature.

He died in 1919, but his reputation has lasted because of the care and persistence of his documentation. For readers interested in Whitman, American letters, or the literary world of the late 19th century, Traubel remains an important witness and guide.