LEAVES OF GRASS

Whitman, Walt

Published by Rees Welsh & Co, Philadelphia, 1882

About this Item

Printer Roger Sherman's copy of the seventh ("definitive") edition of Whitman's recently censored American epic - with Sherman's lengthy and highly critical note to a rear blank. In 1881, Boston-based publisher James R. Osgood issued what is now called "the definitive edition of [Whitman's] poems" (Renner). It was the first edition of LEAVES OF GRASS distributed by a major publisher - and it quickly came to the attention of the Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Vice. "Whitman's book sold more than 1,500 copies before the publisher withdrew it after a district attorney objected to the sexual content and threatened to prosecute the company for selling obscene literature. The poet soon arranged to resume printing with Philadelphia publishers [.] Rees Welsh [.] Spurred by publicity, Philadelphia sales eventually surpassed 6,000 copies" (Renner). It is clear, however, that even the printer contracted by Rees Welsh had his own reservations about the merits of LEAVES - expressed at length in the notes at the rear of this copy. Sherman was one of three principals in Sherman & Co., the printing house responsible for this issue. He criticizes not only Whitman's poetic form ("There is nothing in it which has any of the elements of poetry. There are neither noble thoughts, fine language, imagination, versification, or rythm [sic]"), but also the same subjects that got the book "banned in Boston": "The book is wholly course [sic], unpleasant, and objectless [.] Very little can be gained for mankind by dictating their thoughts to this grosser part of their nature for the purpose of stimulating it to greater activity. If it is necessary to teach men and women of the age that they should pay more attention to breeding their kind, this is for physicians, philosophers and sociologists. It is not for poets. There are many pleasurable and useful physical operations, but it is impracticable to write poetry about them. To do so will disgust us with both." A remarkable copy, directly addressing the contemporary controversies surrounding this foundational work of American poetry. 7.5'' x 4.75''. Original mustard-brown full cloth with gilt titles. Patterned endpapers. [2], 382, [4] pages. Faint darkening to spine. Bit of starting at front hinge. Some foxing to endpapers, edges of textblock. Minor shelfwear to extremities. Bit of bubbling to cloth of rear board. Overall, sound. Provenance: Printer Roger Sherman's copy, with his penciled ownership signature and date (Aug. 1882) to front free endpaper, and his full-page penned inscription/note to next-to-last blank (complete transcript available), initial "R.S." at the end.

Seller Inventory # 55701

Bibliographic Details

• Title: LEAVES OF GRASS
• Publisher: Rees Welsh & Co, Philadelphia
• Publication Date: 1882
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very good.
• Seller catalogs:
  • Poetry