Leaves of Grass: The First Edition

by Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass: The First Edition offers readers the original version of Walt Whitman’s seminal work that inspired Ralph Waldo Emerson to famously write, “I greet you at the beginning of a great career.” This edition, edited by Malcolm Cowley, brings Whitman’s bold and fresh voice back to life, presenting the poet as he was in his earliest and most unrefined form.

As described on the back cover:

"Cowley has faithfully restored the first edition from its narrow academic reach, adding his own introduction as well as Whitman’s original preface—never included in other editions during Whitman’s lifetime. This is Whitman as he intended, returned to the readers he wrote for."

This edition remains a significant contribution to the study of American poetry, as noted by Karl Shapiro: “One of the most important literary events in twentieth-century poetry and criticism.”

Book details:

Title: Leaves of Grass. The First (1855) Edition

Author: Walt Whitman

Condition: Very Good

Binding: Paperback

Publisher: Penguin Books 

Publication Date: 1986 reprint