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Delight in the work that forever changed the course of American poetry

With an Introduction and Bibliography by Stephen Matterson, Trinity College, Dublin. Walt Whitman's verse gave the poetry of America a distinctive national voice. It reflects the unique vitality of the new nation, the vastness of the land and the emergence of a sometimes troubled... Read Full Overview

In 1855, Walt Whitman published -- at his own expense -- the first edition of Leaves of Grass, a visionary volume of twelve poems. Showing the influence of a uniquely American form of mysticism known as Transcendentalism, which eschewed the general society and culture... Read Full Overview

"I am large, I contain multitudes"

In 1855, a small volume appeared, self-published by a failed Brooklyn journalist and carpenter: twelve untitled poems and a preface announcing the author's aims. A commercial failure, this book was the first stage of a massive, lifelong enterprise. Six editions and thirty-seven... Read Full Overview

As featured in AMC's Breaking Bad, given by Gale Boetticher to Walter White and discovered by Hank Schrader.

One of the great innovative figures in American letters, Walt Whitman created a daringly new kind of poetry that became a major force in world literature. Leaves Of Grass is his one book. First published in 1855 with only twelve poems, it was greeted by Ralph Waldo Emerson as... Read Full Overview

In 1855, an unknown but wildly ambitious young poet self-published the first edition of Leaves of Grass, consisting of twelve untitled poems and an explanatory preface. Walt Whitman spent the rest of his life engaged in expanding and revising this work, through six editions... Read Full Overview

'I spring from the pages into your arms'

This edition is based on the venerable Norton Critical Edition of Leaves of Grass (1973), edited by the late Scully Bradley and Harold Blodgett.

In response to Ralph Waldo Emerson's call for the United States to have its own unique poetic voice, Walt Whitman rose to the challenge to create what would ultimately be his most profound work. Taking its title from the colloquial term "grass", meaning a work of minor value,... Read Full Overview

Abraham Lincoln read it with approval, but Emily Dickinson described its bold language and themes as "disgraceful." Ralph Waldo Emerson found it "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet produced." Published at the author's expense on July 4, 1855,... Read Full Overview

An unabridged collection of classic verse speaking profoundly into the lives of readers today.