Whitman, Walt

Biographie

Walt Whitman (* 31. Mai 1819 in West Hills, Long Island, New York; † 26. März 1892 in Camden, New Jersey) war ein US-amerikanischer Dichter. Er gilt als einer der Begründer der modernen amerikanischen Dichtung. Sein berühmtestes Werk ist der Gedichtband Leaves of Grass (Grashalme / Grasblätter).

Lexikonartikel

Meyers 1909

[582] Whitman (spr ūittmän), Walt (Walter), amerikan. Schriftsteller, geb. 31. Mai 1819 in West Hills auf Long Island (New York), gest. 27. März 1892 in Camden bei Philadelphia, erlernte die Schriftsetzerei und verdiente sich von seinem 13. Jahr an als Farmer, Zimmermann und Drucker sein Brot. Später war er Lehrer und Redakteur verschiedener New Yorker Blätter, studierte aber in seiner Muße Natur und Mensch und legte den Grund zu der Welt- und Lebensanschauung,[582] der er in den eigentümlichen Streckversen seiner »Leaves of Grass« (1855) Ausdruck verlieh. Im Bürgerkriege widmete er sich opferwillig der Pflege der Verwundeten im Feld und in den Lazaretten und erhielt beim Friedensschluß eine kleine Anstellung im Staatsdepartement in Washington, die jedoch sein Vorgesetzter Harlan ihm bald wegen der angeblichen Unsittlichkeit seiner Dichtungen wieder entzog, ein Ereignis, das in dem nicht unbedeutenden Kreise seiner Verehrer große Aufregung und das Pamphlet »The Good gray poet, a Vindication« von W. D. O'Connor hervorrief. Kriegsdichtungen u. d. T. »Drumtaps« folgten 1865, und W. erhielt wieder ein kleines Amt, das er bis zu seiner Lähmung 1873 bekleidete. Von nun an lebte er in Camden und schrieb noch die folgenden poetischen Werke: »November Boughs« (1888) und »Good bye, my fancy« (1891), sowie die Prosaschriften »Democratic vistas« (1871), die autobiographischen Aufzeichnungen »Specimen days and collect« (1883), wie seine Dichtungen in einem ganz eigenartigen unmittelbaren Stil geschrieben. Whitmans Einfluß auf die jüngere Generation seiner Heimat wie des Auslandes ist im Zunehmen begriffen. Er gilt bei der Kritik als der erste amerikanische Dichter, der dem Geist seines Landes künstlerisch Ausdruck verliehen. Whitmans gesammelte Werke erschienen in 2 Bänden in Philadelphia (1892), in 4 Bänden in Boston (1898), in einer Subskriptionsprachtausgabe in 10 Bänden in New York (1902). Deutsch erschienen: »Grashalme«-Auswahl, übersetzt von Karl Knortz und T. W. Rolleston (Zürich 1889), von Karl Federn (Minden 1904), von Schölermann (Leipz. 1904), von Johannes Schlaf (in Reclams Universal-Bibliothek); »Novellen« von Ettlinger (Minden 1901). Vgl. Bucke, Walt W. (Philad. 1883), weitere biographische und kritische Schriften von Clarke (Lond. 1892), Donaldson (New York 1896), Burroughs (Boston 1896), Symonds (neue Ausg., Lond. 1896), W. S. Kennedy (das. 1896), Binns (das. 1905; deutsch von J. Schlaf, Leipz. 1907), Perry (2. Aufl., Boston 1908), J. Schlaf (Berl. 1904); Bazalgette, Walt W., l'homme et son œuvre (Par. 1908); vgl. auch Traubel, Bucke und Harned, In Re Walt W. (Philad. 1893); Traubel, With Walt W. in Camden (neue Ausg., das. 1908, 2 Bde.).

Quelle: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Band 20. Leipzig 1909, S. 582-583. Permalink: http://www.zeno.org/nid/20007692331

Brockhaus 1911

[978] Whitman (spr. wittmänn), Walt, amerik. Dichter, geb. 31. Mai 1819 auf Long Island (Neuyork), gest. 26. März 1892 in Camden (Neujersey); veröffentlichte: »Leaves of grass« (1855; deutsch in Auswahl 1889), »Democratic vistas« (neue Ausg. 1888), »Autobiographia« (1892) u.a. – Vgl. Knortz (2. Aufl. 1899), Binns (engl., 1905), Bertz (1905). Quelle: Brockhaus' Kleines Konversations-Lexikon, fünfte Auflage, Band 2. Leipzig 1911., S. 978. Permalink: http://www.zeno.org/nid/20001680412

Bibliograpie

Angaben bis 1915 übernommen aus: Frank Shay, THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WALT WHITMAN. New York: Friedman's, 1920. Hier bei archive.org.

Chronologisch geordnet

1842

The New World. Extra Series. Number 34. New York, November, 1842. Original Temperance Novel. Franklin Evans; or The Inebriate. A Tale of the Times. By Walter Whitman.

Royal octavo, pp. 31, uncut.

Published as an extra to "_The New World_."

The last page (32) contains advertisement: "New Works in Press."

Written during Whitman's Bohemian days it was advertised as a thrilling romance by one of the best novelists in this country and had a sale of between 20,000 and 25,000 copies, which netted the author about $200. References to the work in later years irritated Whitman and he refused to discuss it. The work is extremely scarce considering the great number that were published.

1855

Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn, New York. 1855.

First edition. Twelve poems.

Imperial octavo, pink paper wrappers.

"Leaves of Grass" printed in block letters across front wrapper, end wrapper blank. Steel engraved portrait, title, uncaptioned preface, xii, Leaves of Grass, pp. 95, end blank.

The author's name appears only in the copyright notice, and in the first poem: "Walt Whitman, an American, one of the roughs, a kosmos."

The poems, twelve in number, are without titles. In the present authorized edition they appear under the following titles:

Song of Myself. A Song for Occupations. To Think of Time. The Sleepers. I Sing the Body Electric. Faces. Song of the Answer (part one). Europe. A Boston Ballad. There Was a Child Went Forth. Who Learns My Lesson Complete. Great Are the Myths.

The preface was later worked into three poems:

By Blue Ontario's Shore. Song of Prudence. To a Foil'd European Revolutionaire.

There are three variations of the first edition. The one noted above in pink wrappers is unquestionably the first issue. The second issue is bound in green cloth, gilt edges, and with the title stamped in rustic letters in gilt on the front cover. The last issue of this edition has all the points of the second issue with eight pages of press notices bound in at the front.

Less than nine hundred copies were printed in July, 1855, in the printshop of Andrew H. Rome, 98 Cranberry Street, Brooklyn, the author assisting in the type composition and presswork. The volume was placed on sale at Fowler & Wells, Broadway, New York, and at Swaynes, in Fulton Street, Brooklyn, at two dollars, but was later reduced to one dollar. Very few copies were sold; Whitman giving almost the entire edition to critics and friends.

Catalogued from the Maier copy.

A reprint of this edition was issued in January, 1920, by Mr. Thomas B. Mosher, Portland, Maine.

1856

Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn, New York. 1856.

Second edition. Thirty-two poems.

Thick 16mo, green drab cloth, sprinkled edges. Title stamped in gilt on face of binding; on back title and quotation from Emerson's letter "I Greet You at the Beginning of a Great Career, R. W. Emerson," portrait, same as in the first edition, title, contents, iv, Leaves of Grass, pp. (5)-342, Leaves Droppings (reprint of Emerson's letter; Whitman's letter to Emerson and press notices), pp. 345-384, advertisement. Owing to the storm of criticism which arose against the book, Fowler & Wells, the New York publishers, refused to put their name on the title page, and though they attended to all the details of presswork and distribution, the volume was issued from Brooklyn, without imprint. It is said that there are copies in existence bearing Fowler & Wells imprint, but this is doubtful as such copies are unknown to Whitman collectors. In this edition the prose preface of the first edition is worked into four poems: By Blue Ontario's Shore; Song of the Answerer, part two; To a Foil'd European Revolutionaire, and Song of Prudence; the balance being reprinted in Specimen Days and Collect, 1881.

Owing to the refusal of Fowler & Wells to stand sponsor to the volume, only 1,000 copies were printed and the book was out of print 1858-1860.

1860

Leaves of Grass Imprints. American and European Criticisms of "Leaves of Grass." Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860.

18mo, printed wrappers, pp. 64.

A reprint of current criticisms of the first and second editions. Pp. 7, 30, 38, contain articles written and contributed anonymously by Whitman to various New York papers. They were later reprinted in the Fellowship papers and in In Re Walt Whitman, 1893.

It is exceedingly rare.

1860

Leaves of Grass. Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, Year '85 of The States. (1860-61.)

Third edition. 154 poems.

Duodecimo, brown cloth, heavily blind embossed. Portrait, at the age of forty, engraved by Schoff, after the painting by Charles Hine, in 1859, on an irregular tinted background, title, contents, pp. iv-456.

Issued May, 1860. The author went to Boston to superintend the printing and binding. The publishers failed during the period of financial depression at the beginning of the Civil War and the plates were sold at auction to R. Worthington, who surreptitiously used them with the original imprint. There are, for this reason, four or more editions bearing the original Thayer and Eldridge imprint. The first issue is distinguished by the engraved portrait which is on an irregular tinted background and by the gilt embossed butterfly on the backbone of the binding. On the verso of the title is the inscription "Electrotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry. Printed by George C. Rand & Avery." The second issue has the portrait on white paper and lacks the gilt butterfly. The third issue, or the first pirated issue, lacks the printer's inscription and is bound in cheap cloth. Early issues, all spurious, contain catalogues of Worthington's publications bound in at the end. The plates were purchased by Whitman's literary executors after his death.

In this edition the author abandons calling the months by their common names and adopts the Quaker style: that of calling September the Ninthmonth, etc.

Copies of the first issue with the tinted portrait are extremely scarce. The various editions have heretofore remained undistinguished.

1865

Walt Whitman's Drum-Taps. New York, 1865.

Duodecimo, brown cloth, title (Drum-Taps) stamped on gold ground on front cover, title, contents, iv, pp. 5-72.

But few copies had been issued when the death of President Lincoln occurred and the author withheld the balance until a few weeks later when he added "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd and other Pieces," with pagination distinct from that of Drum-Taps, as a sequel. This and the "Sequel" formed the first and second annexes to the fourth edition, 1867, of Leaves of Grass, and were later incorporated in the Washington, 1871 edition under the title of Drum-Taps. Copies without the "sequel" are exceedingly scarce.

1865

Sequel to Drum-Taps (since the preceding came from the press). When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd. And Other Pieces. Washington, D. C., 1865-6.

Duodecimo, pp. 24.

It is doubtful if any copies reached the market other than those issued as a part of Drum-Taps. The remaining copies were bound up with second issue of the 1867 edition.

1867

Leaves of Grass. New York, 1867.

Fourth edition.

Duodecimo, walnut half-morocco, title, contents, iv, pp. (7)-338. There is also a cloth bound issue that differs in no manner from the above. Both have "Ed'n 1867" stamped in gilt on back.

Later issues of this edition have added, under separate pagination, Drum-Taps, pp. iv-72; Sequel to Drum-Taps, pp. 24; Songs Before Parting, pp. 36. A blank leaf separates each section.

In this edition the author changes the writing of the past participle to 'd. The verses and sections are numbered.

1868

Poems by Walt Whitman. Selected and Edited by William Michael Rossetti [quotation from Michelangelo]. London: John Camden Hotten, Piccadilly, 1868.

"Rossetti" Edition.

Duodecimo, blue cloth, uncut; half-title, portrait with facsimile signature, title, page of quotations from Swedenborg, Carlyle, and Robespierre, note on portrait, dedication (by W. M. R.) to William Bell Scott, contents, prefatory notices, preface to Leaves of Grass, pp. 64; half-title, pp. 401, postscript. Eight pages of advertisements in front, and sixteen pages in back.

The first English, or "Rossetti's Edition." W. D. O'Connor writing to an European friend called it "A fairly representative, but nevertheless, castrated edition."

A second edition from new type was issued in 1886 by Chatto & Windus, London. Third edition, 1910.

1871

Leaves of Grass. Washington, D. C., 1871. [Pointing Hand] See Advertisement at end of this Volume.

Fifth edition.

Duodecimo, light green paper wrappers, uncut; title, contents, pp. vi-384.

Copyright notice dated 1870; Later issues were bound in cloth.

1871

Memoranda. Democratic Vistas. Washington, D. C., 1871. [Pointing Hand] See Advertisement at end of this Volume.

Duodecimo, light green paper wrappers, uncut; title, contents, pp. 84.

Copyright notice dated 1870.

1871

Leaves of Grass. Passage to India. (Five line poem beginning, "Gliding o'er all.") Washington, D. C., 1871. [Pointing Hand] See Advertisement at end of this Volume.

Duodecimo, light green paper wrappers, uncut; title, contents, pp. iv-120.

Copyright notice dated 1870.

1871

After All, Not to Create Only. Recited by Walt Whitman on Invitation of Managers American Institute, on Opening their 40th Annual Exhibition, New York, noon, September 7, 1871 (device). Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1871.

Duodecimo, beveled cloth boards, half-title, title, note, vii; pp. 24, notes.

There is also a limp cloth issue which is quite common, that was issued to be sold at the exhibition.

The poem was later published in the Transactions of the American Institute, 1871-72. Albany, 1872.

1872

Leaves of Grass. Washington, D. C., 1872.

Second issue of the fifth edition.

Duodecimo, green cloth, uncut; title, contents, vi, pp. 384. Passage to India, pp. 120. Printed from the plates of the Washington, 1871 editions of Leaves of Grass and Passage to India.

Later issues have After All, Not to Create Only, pp. 14 bound in.

1872

Leaves of Grass. As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free. And Other Poems. Washington, D. C., 1872.

Duodecimo, green cloth, uncut; title, contents, preface, x; One Song, America, Before I Go, one page; Souvenirs of Democracy, facsimile signature, one page; pp. 14; Virginia--The West; By Broad Potomac's Shore, one page, unnumbered; eight pages advertisements.

1875

Memoranda During the War. By Walt Whitman. Author's Publication. Camden, New Jersey, 1875-76.

Octavo, maroon cloth, title stamped in gold on cover; page, "Remembrance Copy;" portrait, title, pp. 68, advertisement.

1876

Leaves of Grass. [Nine-line poem beginning "Come, said my soul," signed Walt Whitman in the Author's autograph.] Author's Edition, with Portraits from Life. Camden, New Jersey, 1876.

Sixth edition.

Octavo, half-calf, leather label, title, contents, vi; pp. 384, advertisement. Portrait same as in the first edition facing page 29; woodcut portrait by W. J. Linton facing page 285.

1876

Leaves of Grass. [Nine-line poem in author's holograph, signed Walt Whitman.] Author's Edition. With Portraits and Intercallations. Camden, New Jersey, 1876.

Octavo, half calf, leather label, uncut. The same in every detail except for a new title. At the end of the table of contents a slip is tipped in:

Intercallations Page

As in a Swoon 207 The Beauty of the Ship247 When the Full-Grown Poet Came 359 After an Interval 369

On each page indicated will be found a poem, tipped in.

There is a variation in the intercallations: a few contain "A Death Sonnet for Custer."

1876

Two Rivulets including Democratic Vistas, Centennial Songs, and Passage to India. Author's Edition. Camden, New Jersey, 1876.

Octavo, half-calf, leather label; portrait, "Photo'd from life, Sept., '72, Brooklyn, N. Y., by G. F. Pearsall, Fulton St." signed "Walt Whitman, born May 31, 1819"; title, pp. 32, blank leaf; Democratic Vistas, pp. 84; blank page; Centennial Songs, 1876, pp. 1-18; blank page; As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free, preface, pp. x, pp. 14, blank page; Passage to India, pp. 120; blank page, advertisement.

The above and Leaves of Grass, 1876, were uniform in binding and comprised Whitman's complete works to date.

1881

Leaves of Grass [device]. Boston: James R. Osgood & Company, 1881-82.

Seventh edition.

Duodecimo, yellow cloth, facsimile signature stamped in gilt on front cover; title, contents, pp. 382. This edition was suppressed by District Attorney Stevens on complaint of the Society for the Suppression of Vice. The unbound copies were claimed by the author who inserted a new title-page. The plates were turned over to Rees, Welsh and Company. Later they were given to David McKay, who issued several editions bearing the dates of 1884, 1885, 1886. There is also an edition from these plates with McKay's imprint and Putnam's name on the binding.

1881

Leaves of Grass. By Walt Whitman, Author's Copyright Edition [device]. London: David Bogue, 3 St. Martin's Place, Trafalgar Square, W. C., 1881. (All rights reserved.)

Octavo, olive cloth, uncut; title, contents, pp. 382. The collation being the same as that of the Boston, 1881 edition it is possible that Bogue purchased the sheets from Osgood or Whitman and bound the book to his own tastes.

There was another issue, same collation, in 1884.

1881

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman: Preface to the Original Edition, 1855 [device]. London: Trübner & Co., 1881.

Octavo, blue wrappers, uncut, title, pp. 31, advertisements.

Only 500 copies were printed.

An edition on large paper, bound in light blue wrappers and limited to twenty-five copies was issued at the same time.

1882

Specimen Days and Collect. By Walt Whitman, author of "Leaves of Grass." Philadelphia: Rees, Welsh & Co., No. 23 South Ninth Street, 1882-83.

Duodecimo, paper wrappers, uncut; portrait, title, contents, pp. 374; advertisement. Very few copies were issued in wrappers, the larger number being bound in yellow cloth and with the imprint of David McKay. The edition with the imprint of Wilson and McCormick, Glasgow, 1883, was printed from the same plates.

1886

Leaves of Grass. The Poems of Walt Whitman (selected), with Introduction by Ernest Rhys.

18 mo, blue cloth, paper label, uncut; portrait, title, contents, introduction, xxxix, pp. 318; advertisements.

The Canterbury Poet Series.

1887

Specimen Days in America. By Walt Whitman. Newly revised by the author, with fresh preface and additional note. London: Walter Scott, 24 Warwick Lane, Paternoster Row, 1887.

16 mo, blue cloth, paper label, uncut; half-title, title, contents, preface, pp. 312; advertisements.

The Camelot Series.

Later Published by Routledge in the New Universal Library.

1888

November Boughs. By Walt Whitman. Philadelphia: David McKay, 23 South Ninth Street, 1888.

Octavo maroon cloth, uncut; title stamped in gilt on front cover; portrait, the 70th year, title, contents, (5)-140; advertisement.

1888

Complete (portrait) Poems and Prose of Walt Whitman, 1855-1888. Authenticated and Personal Book (handled by W. W.). Portraits from Life. Autograph.

Eighth edition, Leaves of Grass; third edition of Prose Works.

Octavo, half cloth, uncut. Leaves of Grass, pp. 382; Specimen Days, pp. 374; November Boughs, pp. 140. Portraits face pp. 29 and 206.

600 copies.

1888

Democratic Vistas, and other Papers. By Walt Whitman. Published by arrangement with the author. London: Walter Scott, 24 Warwick Lane, Paternoster Row, 1888.

12 mo, cloth, paper label, uncut; title, contents, preface, pp. 175; advertisements.

1889

Leaves of Grass with Sands at Seventy and A Backward Glance o'er Travel'd Roads.

To-day, after finishing my 70th year, the fancy comes for celebrating it by a special, complete, final utterance, in one handy volume, of L. of G., with their Annex, and Backward Glance--and for stamping and sprinkling all with portraits and facial photos, such as they actually were, taken from life, different stages. Doubtless, anyhow, the volume is more a _Person_ than a book. And for testimony to all (and for good measure) I here with pen and ink append my name: Walt Whitman. Portraits from Life; autograph; special edition. (300 copies only printed--$5 each.)

The "Pocketbook" Leaves of Grass.

Duodecimo, black morocco, with and without flaps, gilt edges.

Portrait, title, contents, pp. 9-382; Sands at Seventy, pp. 383-404; A Backward Glance o'er Travel'd Roads, separate pagination, pp. 1-18. Portraits face pp. 29, 132, 214, 296, 383.

1889

Gems from Walt Whitman. Selected by Elizabeth Porter Gould. Philadelphia: David McKay, Publisher, 23 South Ninth Street, 1889.

Oblong duodecimo, maroon cloth; title, contents, poem to W. W., pp. 58.

1891

Good-Bye My Fancy, 2d Annex to Leaves of Grass. Philadelphia: David McKay, Publisher, 23 South Ninth Street, 1891.

Octavo, green or maroon cloth, uncut, gilt top; title stamped in gilt on front cover; portrait, title, contents, pp. (5)-66.

1891

Leaves of Grass. Including Sands at Seventy. 1st Annex, Good-Bye my Fancy; 2d Annex, A Backward Glance o'er Travel'd Roads, and Portrait from Life. [Nine-line poem, facsimile signature of the author.] Philadelphia: David McKay, Publisher, 23 South Ninth Street, 1891-2.

Ninth edition.

Octavo, paper wrappers, paper label, uncut; title, contents, pp. 438.

Later issues were bound in cloth and have the publisher's address at 1022 Market Street.

1892

Complete Prose Works. Walt Whitman. Philadelphia: David McKay, Publisher, 23 South Ninth Street, 1892.

Octavo, green cloth, uncut, gilt top; title, contents, viii, pp. 522.

1892

Selected Poems. By Walt Whitman. New York: Charles L. Webster & Co., 1892.

16 mo, grey cloth; half-title, portrait, editor's note, pp. 179; advertisements.

In the Fiction, Fact, and Fancy Series.

Edited by Arthur Stedman.

1892

Autobiographia, or the Story of a Life. By Walt Whitman. Selected from his Writings. New York: Charles L. Webster & Co., 1892.

16 mo, grey cloth; half-title, photo of Mickle Street, Camden house, title, editor's note, W. W. by E. C. S., pp. 205; advertisements.

The publisher failed and very few copies reached the market.

In the Fiction, Fact, and Fancy Series edited by Arthur Stedman.

There is an issue in blue cloth from the same plates, uncut, bearing the imprint of G. P. Putnam's Sons, London, 1892, and some bearing the McKay imprint.

1893

_In Re_ Walt Whitman. Edited by his Literary Executors, Horace L. Traubel, Richard Maurice Bucke, Thomas B. Harned [quotation from Lucretius]. Published by the Editors through David McKay, 23 South Ninth Street, Philadelphia, 1893.

Octavo, cloth, uncut; half-title, title, a First and Last Word, contents, x, pp. 452; advertisements. But 1,000 copies were published. Each copy was to be numbered consecutively, though many are found without the number. Most copies have the signatures of one or all the executors.

The volume contains the following by Walt Whitman:

Walt Whitman and his Poems, pp. 13-21. Leaves of Grass: a volume of poems just published, pp. 23-26. An English and an American Poet, pp. 27-32. Letters in Sickness: Washington, 1873, pp. 73-92.

The first three articles were written by Whitman during 1855-56 and sent to the newspapers anonymously. He insisted that considering the misunderstanding and abuse accorded to Leaves of Grass, he was compelled to resort to these methods to defend his work in columns that would have been otherwise closed to him. The latter was a series of letters to his mother.

1895

The Masterpiece Library. XXVII. Poems by Walt Whitman [quotation]. London: "Review of Reviews," Office Price One Penny.

Duodecimo, orange wrappers, pp. 60; advertisements. No. 27 of the Penny Poets.

Quite scarce.

[*Date registered British Copyright Office.]

1897

Leaves of Grass including Sands at Seventy, Good-Bye My Fancy, Old Age Echoes, and A Backward Glance O'er Traveled Roads. By Walt Whitman [device]. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1897.

Octavo, green cloth, uncut; portrait, title, poem, author's note, no pagination, pp. 455.

Later editions from the same plates:

D. Appleton & Company. Mitchell Kennerley. Doubleday, Page & Company.

1897

Calamus. A Series of Letters Written during the Years 1868-1880. By Walt Whitman to a Young Friend [Peter Doyle]. Edited with an introduction by Richard Maurice Bucke, M. D., one of Whitman's literary executors. [Quotation from p. 102, "Leaves of Grass," edition of 1892.] Published by Laurens Maynard at 287 Congress Street in Boston, MDCCCXCVII.

Duodecimo, boards, cloth back, paper label; zinc etching of Whitman and Peter Doyle reproduced from a photograph by Rice, Washington, D. C., 1869; title, 4 pp. quotations, chronological notes of Walt Whitman's life, introduction, pp. 173.

The first issue was limited to 35 numbered copies. A regular edition was published at the same time.

1898

Complete Prose Works. Specimen Days and Collect, November Boughs and Good-Bye My Fancy. By Walt Whitman [device]. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1898.

Octavo, cloth, uncut; half-title, portrait, title, contents, list of illustrations, pp. 527.

Later editions from the same plates:

A. Appleton & Company. Mitchell Kennerley. Doubleday, Page & Company.

1898

The Wound Dresser. A Series of Letters Written from the Hospitals in Washington during the War of the Rebellion. By Walt Whitman. Edited by Richard Maurice Bucke, M. D., one of Whitman's literary executors [device]. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1898.

Octavo, red buckram, uncut; title, portrait, contents, pp. 201.

The edition was limited to 10 copies signed by the editor; the earliest of these copies have the publisher's device slightly out of the center.

1898

Selections from the Prose and Poetry of Walt Whitman. Edited with an Introduction by Oscar Lovell Triggs, Ph.D. (The University of Chicago) [device]. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1898.

Octavo, buckram, uncut; half-title, portrait, title, dedication, preface, contents, introduction xliii, half-title, pp. 248. Selected bibliography (251)-257.

1898

"Walt Whitman at Home." By Himself. Critic Pamphlet No. 2. New York: The Critic Co., 1898.

Duodecimo, sewn, uncut; title, portrait, pp. 21. Facsimiles of Walt Whitman's manuscript on pp. 15 and 21.

1899

Notes and Fragments. Left by Walt Whitman and now Edited by Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke, one of his literary executors. "Waifs from the Deep Cast High and Dry," Leaves of Grass, pp. 278. Printed for Private Distribution only, 1899.

Small quarto, pebbled cloth, uncut; half-title, title, preface, pp. 211.

250 copies.

1900

Leaves of Grass. By Walt Whitman. Including a Facsimile Autobiography, variorum readings of the poems and a department of Gathered Leaves [device]. Philadelphia: David McKay, 1022 Market St.

8vo, green cloth; g.t., uncut; portrait, title, preface by David McKay, contents, x, facsimile of Whitman's autobiography, pp. 510, alphabetical index of titles, (511)-516. There are portraits facing pp. 31, 117, 395 of the text.

1900

Leaves of Grass [device]. Walt Whitman. New York and Boston: H. M. Caldwell Co.

18mo, pictorial board on cloths, uncut, portrait, title, pp. 88; advertisements.

1900

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd. Essex House Press, London: 1900.

12mo. vellum, uncut.

135 copies on vellum.

1902

The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman. Issued under the editorial supervision of his Literary Executors, Richard Maurice Bucke, Thomas B. Harned, and Horace L. Traubel. With additional bibliographical and critical material by Oscar Lovell Triggs, Ph.D. G. P. Putnam's Sons. New York and London: The Knickerbocker Press.

Ten volumes, various bindings, uncut.

Every scrap of paper and memoranda of Whitman's is here collected and edited by his literary executors. Leaves of Grass takes up three volumes; the Prose works seven.

Vol. 1. Introduction. Leaves of Grass. Vol. 2. Leaves of Grass. Vol. 3. Leaves of Grass, variorum readings, index. Vol. 1. Specimen Days. Vol. 2. Specimen Days; Collect. Vol. 3. Collect, November Boughs, Good-Bye My Fancy. Vol. 4. Good-Bye My Fancy, The Wound Dresser. Vol. 5. Calamus, chapters by T. B. Harned. Vol. 6. Notes and Fragments. Vol. 7. Notes and Fragments, The Growth of Leaves of Grass, Bibliography, by O. L. Triggs.

There are several editions; three of which were published simultaneously.

Autograph edition, with ms. inserted32 sets. Paumanok edition, coloured plates 300 sets. Camden edition 300 sets.

The Lamb Publishing Company later published from the same plates:

National edition 1,000 copies.

1904

Walt Whitman's Diary in Canada with Extracts from other of his Diaries and Literary Note-Books. Edited by William Sloane Kennedy [device]. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, MCMIV.

Octavo, grey boards, parchment back and corners, uncut; half-title, portrait, title, editor's preface, pp. 73.

The edition was limited to 500 copies of which few were sold, the balance being bound up in light blue cloth, some without portrait.

1904

An American Primer. By Walt Whitman, with Facsimiles of the Original Manuscript. Edited by Horace Traubel [device]. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, MCMIV.

8vo, grey boards, vellum back and corners, uncut; half-title, portrait, title, foreword, half-title, 3 pp. facsimiles, pp. 35.

The edition was limited to 500 copies of which few were sold, the balance being bound up in light blue cloth, some without portrait.

1904

Leaves of Grass [selected]. With a prefactory note by Harry Roberts. London: Anthony Treherne & Co., Ltd., 1904.

Duodecimo, cloth, title, preface, pp. 272.

Vol. I of the Vagabonds Library.

1904

Selected Poems of Walt Whitman. Edited with Introduction and Notes by Julian W. Abernethy, Ph.D. [device]. New York: Charles E. Merrill Co.

16 mo, brown wrappers, title, introduction, critical opinions, bibliography, pp. 63.

In Maynard's English Classic Series, No. 242.

1904

Song of Myself. I, Walt Whitman, now thirty-seven years old, in perfect health, begin, hoping to cease not till death. I will make the poems of materials, for I think they are the most spiritual poems, and I will make the poems of my body and mortality. Done into print by the Roycrofters at their shop which is in East Aurora, New York, A.D. MDCCCCIV.

Small quarto, various bindings, uncut; half title, portrait, title, pp. 70.

1905

Lafayette in Brooklyn. By Walt Whitman, with an Introduction by John Burroughs. New York: George D. Smith, 1905.

Octavo, grey boards, paper labels, uncut; half-title, publisher's note and autograph signature portrait on Japan paper, title, contents, list of plates, note, half-title, facsimile of manuscript on Japan paper, note, Lafayette in Brooklyn, notes. No pagination. There is a portrait of Lafayette in the text. The issue was limited to 250 copies, 15 of which were on Imperial Japanese vellum, the balance on hand-made paper.

1905

The Book of Heavenly Death by Walt Whitman, compiled from Leaves of Grass by Horace Traubel [device]. Portland, Maine: Thomas B. Mosher, MDCCCCV.

Duodecimo, light blue boards, paper label, uncut; note, facsimile, note, portrait (Lear) title, contents, preface, pp. 103 including index.

500 copies from type.

Collated from late edition.

1906

Memories of President Lincoln and other Lyrics of the War. By Walt Whitman [device]. Portland, Maine: Thomas B. Mosher, MDCCCCVI.

16mo, grey boards, paper labels, uncut; half-title, title, contents, foreword, pp. (43).

950 copies from type.

1906

Memories of President Lincoln, and other Lyrics of the War. By Walt Whitman [device]. Portland, Maine: Thomas B. Mosher, MDCCCCVI.

Duodecimo, boards, paper label, uncut; half-title, title, contents, foreword by Horace Traubel and T. B. M., note by John Burroughs, pp. 45.

1906

Walt Whitman. A Little Book of Nature Thoughts. Selected by Anne Montgomerie Traubel [device]. Portland, Maine: Thomas B. Mosher, MDCCCCVI.

Narrow 16mo, blue wrappers, uncut; half-title, title, preface, pp. 82, index.

1907

The Wisdom of Walt Whitman. Selected and Edited, with Introduction by Laurens Maynard. New York: Brentano's Fifth Avenue, MCMVII.

24mo, limp morocco; half-title, title, contents, introduction, pp. 154; index, pp. 155-165.

1909

Leaves of Grass. By Walt Whitman. London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne: Cassell and Company, Ltd. MCMIX.

Duodecimo, cloth or leather, pp. 468.

The Peoples Library.

1912

Memories of President Lincoln. When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd; O Captain! My Captain; Hush'd be the Camps To-Day; This Dust was once the Man [device]. Portland, Maine: Published by Thomas B. Mosher at XLV Exchange Street, MDCCCCXII.

Imperial octavo, grey boards, uncut; part of Lincoln, title, Lincoln's Gettysburg address, note by William Marion Reedy, contents, half-title, foreword by Horace Traubel and T. B. M., half-title, pp. 13, printed on front of each page, bibliographical notes, (16) note.

300 copies on hand made paper.

50 copies of Japanese vellum.

1912

Leaves of Grass (1), and Democratic Vistas. By Walt Whitman. London: Published by J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., and in New York by E. P. Dutton & Co.

Duodecimo, cloth and leather, pp. 359.

Everyman's Library; introduction by Horace Traubel.

1912

The Rolling Earth. Outdoor Scenes and Thoughts from the writings of Walt Whitman. Compiled by Waldo R. Browne, with an Introduction by John Burroughs [quotation]. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1912.

16 mo, cloth; half-title, portrait, title, dedication, pp. (223).

1913

Poems from Leaves of Grass. By Walt Whitman. The colored illustrations by Margaret C. Cook. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1913.

Octavo, cloth, gilt, uncut; half-title, title, contents, list of illustrations, pp. 260.

Twenty-four colored plates mounted on oxford brown paper.

From the text of the 1861 edition.

1913

Criticism, An Essay. By Walt Whitman For Members. Newark: Carteret Book Club: 1913.

Duodecimo, boards, uncut.

Edition limited to one hundred copies.

1914

Leaves of Grass (Selected). By Walt Whitman [quotation from DuBury]. London: Charles H. Kelly.

Duodecimo, crimson cloth; decorated title and frontispiece, pp. 300.

Edited by John Telford. "Special care has been taken in this edition to omit everything that would offend the reader's taste." From the editor's preface.

1915

Memories of President Lincoln. By Walt Whitman [device]. Little Leather Library Corporation, 1915.

Sexto-decimo, limp calf, pp. 127.

1918

THE PATRIOTIC POEMS OF WALT WHITMAN. NEW YORK: GARDEN CITY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY, 1918

1948

The complete poetry and prose of Walt Whitman, Ed. Malcolm Cowley New York, Pellegrini & Cudahy [1948] (The American classics series. New York)

1954

The complete poetry and prose of Walt Whitman Ed. Malcolm Cowley. Garden City Books, 1954

1966

Selected Poems and Prose. Ed. by A. Norman Jeffares Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966

1994

The Works. Hertfordshire, 1994 (The Wordsworth Poetry Library)

2004

The Complete Poems. Ed. Francis Murphy. Penguin UK, 2004

2009

Democratic Vistas: The Original Edition in Facsimile. Hrsg. Ed Folsom (Iowa Whitman Series). University of Iowa Press, 2009

n. d.

Sea Drift. By Walt Whitman [device]. London: Jarrold & Sons.

Sexto-decimo, polished levant, uncut. Printed on one side of the page, pp. 52 (104).

Deutsche Ausgaben

• Grashalme. Gedichte. In Auswahl übersetzt von Karl Knortz und T. W. Rolleston. Zürich: Verlags-Magazin J. Schabelitz, 1889.
• Grashalme. Eine Auswahl. Minden i. Westf.: J.C.C. Bruns' Verlag, 1904. Übersetzt von Karl Federn.
• Grashalme. In Auswahl aus dem Englischen übertragen u. mit Einleitung von Wilhelm Schölermann. Leipzig: Diederichs, 1904. Mit doppelblattgroßem Schmucktitel von F. H. Ehmcke u. Porträt.
• Grashalme (Ü: Johannes Schlaf). Leipzig: Reclam, 1907. Grashalme (Bände 4891-4892 von Reclams Universal-Bibliothek
• Hymnen für die Erde. (Ü: Franz Blei). Leipzig: Insel, 1914 (Insel-Bücherei 123/1). - 36.-41. Tsd. Leipzig 1947
• Gedichte von Traum und Tat. (Ü: Gustav Landauer). In: Der Aufbruch. Monatsblätter aus der Jugendbewegung. Jena: Eugen Diederichs. 1. Jahrgang. August /September 1915. Heft 2 / 3 Hier
• Gustav Landauer und Yvan Goll: Der Wundarzt. Briefe, Aufzeichnungen und Gedichte aus dem amerikanischen Sezessionskrieg. Zürich 1919
• Grashalme: Neue Auswahl. Deutsch von Hans Reisiger. Berlin: S. Fischer, 1919.
• Gesang von mir selbst. (A. d. Amerik. übers. u. eingeleitet v. Max Hayek). Mit einer Titelzeichnung von Sascha Kronburg. Leipzig / Wien: Verlag der Wiener Graphischen Werkstätte, 1920.
• Grashalme. Mit 13 sign. Original-Lithographien von Willy Jaeckel. Berlin: Erich Reiss, 1920. (= 9. Prospero-Druck).
• Gesänge und Inschriften. Ü: Gustav Landauer. München: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1921.
• Walt Whitmans Werk in zwei Bänden. Ausgewählt, übertragen und eingeleitet von Hans Reisiger. Berlin: S. Fischer, 1922. (1.-4. Aufl.)
• Hans Reisiger: Gesang von mir selbst (aus Grashalme). Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 1946
• Salut au Monde. Berlin Suhrkamp Verlag vorm. S. Fischer Verlag, 1946. Deutsch von Hans Reisiger.
• Grashalme. In Auswahl neu übertragen von Elisabeth Serelman-Küchler u. Walther Küchler. Erlangen: Dipax-Verlag, 1947. 1.-5. Tsd.
• Grashalme. (Ü: Georg Goyert) Berlin: Lothar Blanvalet, 1948. Aufl.: 10.000.
• Grashalme. Rottenburg (Deutsche Volksbücher) 1948. Ü: Johannes Schlaf. Mit einem Vorwort von W. Schlösser.
• Auf der Brooklyn Fähre. Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 1949. Deutsch von Hans Reisiger.
• Grashalme. Berlin: Aufbau 1952. [1. (u. einzige) Aufl. (dieser Ausg.; Anordnung der Gesänge nach d. Ausg. letzter Hand)]. Nachdichtung v. Hans Reisiger. Vorw. d. Vlg.s. Nachw. v. Günther Klotz.
• Grashalme. (Ü: Hans Reisiger ) Berlin: Aufbau, 1957.
• Walt Whitmans Werk (Auswahl). Dromer, München und Zürich 1960.
• Grashalme. Nachdichtung von Hans Reisiger. Mit einem Nachwort von Karl-Heinz Schönfelder. Leipzig: Reclam, 1960. 2.Auflage. 12°. 343 S. Broschur. (= Reclams Universal- Bibliothek/ RUB 4891-94). 4. Aufl. 1981.
• Lyrik und Prosa. M.e. Nachw. v. Hans Petersen u.e. Vorwort zu "Grashalme von 1855" v. Erich Arendt (Ü: Erich Arendt, Prosaübers. Helmut Heinrich). Berlin: Volk und Welt, 1966.
• Grashalme. Gedichte. Mit einem Essay zum Verständnis der Werke, Zeittafel und Literaturhinweisen von Hans-Joachim Lang. Aus dem Amerikanischen von Hans Reisiger. Reinbek: Rowohlt, 1968,
• Grashalme. Eine Auswahl. Englisch und Deutsch. Lpz.: Insel, 1968. Ü Hans Reisiger, Hg./Nachw. Hans Klähn.
• Poesiealbum 74. Übertragen von Erich Arendt u. Hans Reisiger. Ausgewählt v. Fritz Erpel. Berlin: Neues Leben, 1974.
• Grashalme. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1980. In Auswahl übertragen von Johannes Schlaf, mit einem Nachwort von Johannes Urzidil. ( = Universal-Bibliothek, 4891)
• Grashalme. Nachdichtung von Hans Reisiger. Mit einem Essay von Gustav Landauer. Zürich: Diogenes, 1985.
• Grashalme. Nachdichtung von Hans Reisiger. Mit einem Essay von Gustav Landauer. Zürich: Diogenes, 1992.
• Children of Adam from Leaves of Grass, übertragen von Kai Grehn, illustriert von Paul Cava. edition GALERIE VEVAIS 2005.
• Grashalme. Ü: Wilhelm Schölermann. Köln: Anaconda, 2009.
• Grasblätter, übersetzt von Jürgen Brôcan. München: Hanser, 2009.
• Liebesgedichte. Love Poems. englisch/deutsch. Ausgewählt und übertragen von Frank Schablewski. Vorwort von Johannes Urzidil. Nachwort von Jürgen Brocan. Aachen: Rimbaud, 2011.

Über Whitman

• Cwojdrak, Hans-Günther: Walt Whitman. Dichter und Diplomat. Ein Lebensbild. Hamburg: Phönix-Verlag Christen & Co., 1946
• Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia (Garland reference library of the humanities). Ed. J. R. LeMaster, Donald D. Kummings. Verlag Routledge, 1998
• A Political Companion to Walt Whitman. (Political companions to great American authors) Ed. John Evan Seery. University Press of Kentucky, 2011
• Folsom, Ed and Shusen, Liu. "Walt Whitman: A Current Bibliography."Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 16 (Summer 1998), 43-50.

eBooks

• US-Ausgaben der Leaves of Grass
• Other Books

Links

• The Walt Whitman Archive
• Walt Whitman: Online Resources at the Library of Congress