Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Leaves of Grass, the Original 1855 Edition: Original Edition

Leaves of Grass, the Original 1855 Edition: Original Edition

Newborn, Sasha
Whitman, Walt

Paperback

Series: Little Humanist Classics Series: No. 9

General Poetry

ISBN10: 0942208080
ISBN13: 9780942208085
Publisher: Bandanna Books
Published: Jan 1 1992
Pages: 148
Weight: 0.45
Height: 0.31 Width: 5.31 Depth: 8.44
Language: English
For the college bookstore discount, apply to for the discount code. The original edition of Leaves of Grass had just 95 pages of poetry, and a lengthy introduction. The only titles were Leaves of Grass or a marker, indicating a new poem. The original book listed no author, with a small engraving of himself in a loose open shirt and tipped hat, one hand on hip, the other in his pocket (to loafe at that time meant to be seen idling stylishly about town). The engraving by Samuel Hollyer was based on a photo by Gabriel Harrison (a common printing conversion by skilled professionals in the pre-digital age). Whitman's experience as editor of the Brooklyn Eagle observing the American scene and his patroitic bombast of, for example, the America essay that opens this book, led him to use the longest breath-line in poetry until Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan. This poetic line allowed him to speak as a visionary poet of Biblical stature with remark-able candor, and he continues to stand at the center of American literature a hundred years after his death. Why should we read the first edition, long before the famous Lincoln and Civil War poetry? This edition shows the freshness of Whitman's creative breakthrough-for the first time he finds/invents an appropriate form, and he gets a handle on his true subject. This book marks his emergence from the wilderness. Whitman himself designed the book and set the type for the first edition. He set no poem titles other than the phrase Leaves of Grass, placed at the heads of major sections, and we follow that design. Teachers and serious readers may be interested in the Supplement Edition of Leaves of Grass (www.createspace.com/3675901). This volume contains a wealth of information, critical comments and background on Whitman. Also, a freebie: A Backward Glance over Traveled Roads, in which Whitman remembers how he came to write and publish Leaves of Grass. Download from www.bandannabooks.com/free/whitmanglance.zip

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