Initial publication, 1855 The first edition of
Leaves of Grass was self-published on July 4, 1855. This collection of twelve poems had its beginnings in an
essay by
Ralph Waldo Emerson entitled "
The Poet" (1844), which called for the United States to develop its own new, unique poet who could write about the young country's virtues and vices. This call, along with a challenge to abandon strict rhyme and
meter, were partly embodied in the early 19th century works of
John Neal: in his poems as well as his novels
Randolph (1823) and
Rachel Dyer (1828). Whitman, likely having read Neal, consciously set out to answer Emerson's call in the first edition of
Leaves of Grass. Whitman later commented on Emerson's influence: "I was simmering, simmering, simmering; Emerson brought me to a boil." The title is a
pun, as
grass was a term given by publishers to works of minor value, and
leaves is another name for the pages on which they were printed. Whitman paid for and did much of the
typesetting for the first edition himself. A calculated feature of the first edition was that it included neither the author's nor the publisher's name (both the author and publisher being Whitman). Instead, the cover included an engraving by Samuel Hollyer depicting Whitman himself—in work clothes and a jaunty hat, arms at his side. This figure was meant to represent the devil-may-care American working man of the time, one who might be taken as an almost idealized figure in any crowd. The engraver, later commenting on his depiction, described the character with "a rakish kind of slant, like the mast of a schooner". The 1855 edition contained no table of contents, and none of the poems had a title. Early advertisements appealed to "lovers of literary curiosities", quoting an excerpt from
Charles A. Dana's review in the
New York Tribune. Sales of Whitman's book were few, but the poet was not discouraged. This was the edition that introduced his poems "
Song of Myself", "
I Sing the Body Electric", and "
There Was a Child Went Forth". Whitman sent one paper-bound copy of the 1855
Leaves of Grass to Emerson, who had inspired its creation. He responded with a letter of heartfelt thanks, writing, "I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed." He went on, "I am very happy in reading it, as great power makes us happy." The letter was printed in the
New York Tribune—without the writer's permission—and caused an uproar among prominent New England men of letters, including
Henry David Thoreau and
Amos Bronson Alcott, who were some of the few
Transcendentalists who agreed with Emerson's letter and his statements regarding
Leaves of Grass. The first edition was a slim volume, consisting of only 95 pages. Whitman once said he intended the book to be small enough to be carried in a pocket: "That would tend to induce people to take me along with them and read me in the open air: I am nearly always successful with the reader in the open air", he explained. About 800 copies were printed, though only 200 were bound in its trademark green cloth cover. The twelve first edition poems, given titles in later editions, included: • "
Song of Myself" • "A Song for Occupations" • "To Think of Time" • "
The Sleepers" • "
I Sing the Body Electric" • "Faces" • "Song of the Answerer" • "Europe: The 72d and 73d Years of These States" • "A Boston Ballad" • "
There Was a Child Went Forth" • "Who Learns My Lesson Complete?" • "Great Are the Myths"
Republications, 1856–1889 Leaves of Grass went through six or nine editions, depending on how new editions are distinguished. Scholars who hold that a separate edition is characterized by an entirely new set of type will only count the 1855, 1856, 1860, 1867, 1871–72, and 1881 printings; whereas others who do not mandate that criterion will also count the reprintings in 1876, 1888–1889, and 1891–1892 (the so-called "deathbed edition"). The editions were of varying length, each one larger and augmented from the previous version—the final edition reached over 400 poems.
1856–1860 Emerson's positive response to the 1855 edition inspired Whitman to quickly produce a much-expanded second edition in 1856. Emerson later took offense that his letter was made public and became more critical of Whitman's work. The 1856 edition added "Sun-Down Poem" (retitled "
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" in the 1860 edition) and "Poem of Procreation" (retitled "A Woman Waits for Me" in the 1867 edition).
Thayer & Eldridge, publishers of the 1860 edition, declared
bankruptcy shortly after the book's publication, and were almost unable to pay Whitman. "In regard to money matters", they wrote, "we are very short ourselves and it is quite impossible to send the sum". Whitman received only $250, and the original plates made their way to Boston publisher Horace Wentworth. When the 456-page book was finally issued, Whitman said, "It is quite 'odd', of course", referring to its appearance: it was bound in orange cloth with symbols like a rising sun with nine spokes of light and a butterfly perched on a hand. Whitman claimed that the butterfly was real in order to foster his image as being "one with nature". In fact, the butterfly was made of cloth and was attached to his finger with wire. The major poems added to this edition were "A Word Out of the Sea" (later retitled "
Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"), "Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in Hand", "I Hear America Singing", and "As I Ebb'd With the Ocean of Life".
1867–1889 The 1867 edition was intended to be, according to Whitman, "a new & much better edition of
Leaves of Grass complete — that
unkillable work!" He assumed it would be the final edition. It included the
Drum-Taps section, its
Sequel, and the new
Songs before Parting. The book was delayed when the binder went bankrupt and its distributing firm failed. When it was finally printed, it was a simple edition and the first to omit a picture of the poet. In 1879, Richard Worthington purchased the
electrotype plates and began printing and marketing unauthorized copies of
Leaves of Grass. Whitman scholar Dennis Renner has written that the 1881 edition gave the poet "a chance to consolidate and unify his work late in his career. He could achieve 'the consecutiveness and
ensemble he had always wanted". He spent the summer of 1881 revising the book and oversaw its October publication in Boston by
James R. Osgood and Co. Most modern reissues of
Leaves of Grass treat the 1881 edition as the definitive collection. Earlier editions contained a section called "Chants Democratic"; later editions omitted some of the poems from this section, publishing others in "Calamus" and other sections.
Deathbed edition, 1892 engraving created in 1883 As 1891 came to a close, Whitman prepared a final edition of
Leaves of Grass. By this time, he used a wheelchair, having suffered a series of
strokes that left him partially paralyzed. He wrote to a friend after finishing the final edition: "L. of G.
at last complete — after 33 y'rs of hackling at it, all times & moods of my life, fair weather & foul, all parts of the land, and peace & war, young & old." This last version of
Leaves of Grass was published in 1892 and is referred to as the 'deathbed edition'. In January 1892, two months before Whitman's death, an announcement was published in the
New York Herald: Walt Whitman wishes respectfully to notify the public that the book
Leaves of Grass, which he has been working on at great intervals and partially issued for the past thirty-five or forty years, is now completed, so to call it, and he would like this new 1892 edition to absolutely supersede all previous ones. Faulty as it is, he decides it as by far his special and entire self-chosen poetic utterance. By 1892,
Leaves of Grass had expanded from a small book of twelve poems to a hefty tome of almost 400 poems. ==Analysis==