As scholarship has made its importance to American letters more manifest, editions of the 1855 version of Whitman's masterpiece have multiplied. This one, prepared in honor of the poem's 150th anniversary, will be hard to beat. Edited by major Americanist Reynolds (Walt Whitman's America, etc.), it comes as close as possible, without being a facsimile, to reproducing Whitman's original text, which he famously self-published. The familiar litho of the young rough with open collar opens the book, and Reynold's terrific and informative afterword closes it, along with contemporary reviews (some written by Whitman himself) and Emerson's famous letter ("I greet you at the beginning of a great career..."). Those who know Whitman only through the beautiful but bloated 1892 "deathbed" edition of Leaves of Grass will find here a lean, searing celebration of self.

Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction

The Text of Leaves of Grass, 1891-1892

EPIGRAPH：Come, said my Soul

INSCRIPTIONS

CHILDREN OF ADAM

DRUM-TAPS

MEMORIES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN

AUTUMN RIVULETS

WHISPERS OF HEAVENLY DEATH

FROM NOON TO STARRY NICHT

SONGS OF PARTING

FIRST ANNES: SANDS AT SEVENTY

SECOND ANNEX: GOOD-BYE MY FANCY

A BACKWARD GLANCE O'ER TRAVEL'D ROADS AND PREFATORY LETTER

OLD AGE ECHOES

An album of Whitman Portratis

Other Poetry and Prose

NOTE ON THE TEXTS

POEMS EXCLUDED FROM LEAVES OF GRASS

PASSAGES EXCLUDED FROM LEAVES OF GRASS POEMS

UNCOLLECTED POEMS

UNPUBLISHED POEMS

UNCOLLECTED MANUSCRIPT FRAGMENTS

PREFACES

Criticism

CRITICISM 1855-1955

RECENT CRITICISM

Walt whitman: a Chronology

Selected Bibliography

Index of Titles and First Lines