Leaves of Grass: The First (1855) Edition - Softcover

Whitman, Walt

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1537050664 ISBN 13: 9781537050669

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

Synopsis

Leaves of Grass is a literature & fiction poetry collection by the American poet Walt Whitman. The poems of Leaves of Grass consists of various themes & styles but they are loosely connected, with each representing Whitman's celebration of his philosophy of life and humanity. The nature of this book is notable for its discussion of delight in sensual pleasures during a time when such candid displays were considered immoral and much of the poetry of that time was inspirational & religious. The first edition of Leaves of Grass poetry was published in 1855, but Walt Whitman spent most of his professional life writing and re-writing Leaves of Grass with varying themes & styles of poetry. Walt Whitman revised Leaves of Grass multiple times until his death which resulted in vastly different editions of Leaves of Grass over four decades. This literature & fiction classic edition of Leaves of Grass contains the first 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass which was a small book of poetry containing only twelve poems and it also includes the last compilation of poetry with hundreds of poems.

About this title

Review:

"[T]he greatest poetry by an American."

--Robert D. Faner, American Literature

"Everything about the external arrangement of this book was odd and out of the way. The author printed it himself, and it seems to have been left to the winds of heaven to publish it. So it happened that we had not discovered it before our last number, although we believe the sheets had then passed the press. It bears no publisher's name, and, if the reader goes to a bookstore for it, he may expect to be told at first, as we were, that there is no such book, and has not been. Nevertheless, there is such a book, and it is well worth going twice to the bookstore to buy it."

--The North American Review

"I am not blind to the worth of the wonderful gift of Leaves of Grass. I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson, from a letter to Whitman, 1855

"[T]he greatest poetry by an American."

--Robert D. Faner, American Literature

"Everything about the external arrangement of this book was odd and out of the way. The author printed it himself, and it seems to have been left to the winds of heaven to publish it. So it happened that we had not discovered it before our last number, although we believe the sheets had then passed the press. It bears no publisher's name, and, if the reader goes to a bookstore for it, he may expect to be told at first, as we were, that there is no such book, and has not been. Nevertheless, there is such a book, and it is well worth going twice to the bookstore to buy it."

--The North American Review

"I am not blind to the worth of the wonderful gift of Leaves of Grass. I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson, from a letter to Whitman, 1855

From the Back Cover:

It is not only the allusions to sex and physiology that disturbed Whitman's critics but also his departure from the rules of conventional poetry. He broke down the standard metred line, discard the obligatory rhyming scheme, and freely expressed himself in the living vernacular of American speech.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1537050664
• ISBN 13: 9781537050669
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 324