In May 1860, Walt Whitman published a third edition of Leaves of Grass. His timing was compelling. Printed during a period of regional, ideological, and political divisions, written by a poet intimately concerned with the idea of a United States as 鈥渆ssentially the greatest poem,鈥 this new edition was Whitman鈥檚 last best hope for national salvation. Now available in a facsimile edition, Leaves of Grass, 1860 faithfully reproduces Whitman鈥檚 attempt to create a 鈥淕reat construction of the New Bible鈥 to save the nation on the eve of civil war and, for the first time, frames the book in historical rather than literary terms.
In his third edition, Whitman added 146 new poems to the 32 that comprised the second edition, reorganized the book into a bible of American civic religion that could be cited chapter and verse, and included erotic poetry intended to bind the nation in organic harmony. This 150th anniversary edition includes a facsimile reproduction of the original 1860 volume, a thought-provoking introduction by antebellum historian and Whitman scholar Jason Stacy that situates Whitman in nineteenth-century America, and annotations that provide detailed historical context for Whitman鈥檚 poems.
A profoundly rich product of a period when America faced its greatest peril, this third edition finds the poet transforming himself into a prophet of spiritual democracy and the Whitman we celebrate today鈥攂oisterous, barbaric, and benevolent. Reprinting it now continues the poet鈥檚 goal of proclaiming for 鈥渢he whole of America for each / individual, without exception . . . uncompromising liberty and equality.鈥
鈥淥ccasionally, a gleam of the true poetic fire shines out of the mass of [Whitman鈥檚] rubbish, and there are tender and beautiful touches in the midst of his most objectionable and disagreeable writings.鈥濃New York Times, May 19, 1860
鈥淚t seems ridiculous, but still we are assured of the fact, that by many persons in the United States, the author of 鈥楲eaves of Grass鈥 is regarded as not far short in powers of inspiration to Our Savior.鈥濃London Review, October 13, 1860
鈥淢r. Emerson has much to answer for, and will in reputation dearly pay for the fervid encomium with which he introduced the Author to the American public. There are dirty dogs and dunces who praise WHITMAN鈥檚 indecency, and call him a 鈥榤asculine poet鈥 because he is an obscure ass.鈥濃Cincinnati Daily Commercial, November 29, 1860
鈥淥ne-sided and all sided鈥攊ntense and indifferent鈥攍azy and lashed into fury-spouting words and pouring out streams of rubies and diamonds鈥攈e is nothing more than the very child of nature, to whom accidentally has been given the name, WALT WHITMAN.鈥濃Boston Banner of Light, June 2, 1860
鈥淪pite of barbarous expressions, vile Americanisms, and all faults of thought and expression, the writings of Walt Whitman are full of character, and well worthy of contemplation. They will in time attain a certain measure of celebrity even, and their author is surely entitled to a distinct niche in American literature.鈥濃Sunday Times, March 3, 1867
鈥満＝锹衣咨缜 Press continues its indispensable service to Whitman scholarship with this new edition of the 1860 Leaves of Grass. Jason Stacy refrains from calling the 1860 edition the greatest of all the editions that Whitman published in his lifetime, so we will have to do it for him: those that came before were smaller, while those that came after represent fallings-away from this towering and encompassing enchantment, the greatest book yet from an American poet. Stacy understands the 1860 Leaves as an instance of political history as well as of inspiration, and his unraveling of Walt鈥檚 motives as he conceived his New Bible of spirit and nationhood is richly persuasive.鈥濃擱obert Roper, author, Now the Drum of War: Walt Whitman and His Brothers in the Civil War
鈥淏y 1860 Whitman had written nearly all his great poems. He鈥檇 brought order to the sprawling miracle of 鈥楽ong of Myself,鈥 completed the tender and radical lyrics of 鈥楥alamus,鈥 and written the haunted testament to art鈥檚 origins that he鈥檇 later call 鈥極ut of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking.鈥 Thus the 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass is as close as he came to a new American gospel: a visionary text for a dreamed, possible nation. Here, in its wild and fiery form, is the first truly American book of poems鈥攁n exuberant ghost that still startles, haunting both our poetry and our struggle toward democracy.鈥濃擬ark Doty
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction by Jason Stacy ix
Leaves of Grass, 1860
Annotations 457
