Published Works
In Whitman's Hand
Life & Letters
Commentary
Resources
Pictures & Sound
About the Archive
Poetry Manuscripts
Finding Aids for Manuscripts at Individual Repositories
Guide to the Walt Whitman Poetry Manuscripts in The Walt Whitman Collection, Boston Public Library
Original records created by Boston Public Library; revised and expanded by the Walt Whitman Archive and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. Encoded Archival Description completed through the assistance of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the University of Nebraska Research Council, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services.
Title: Walt Whitman Poetry Manuscripts in The Walt Whitman Collection, Boston Public Library
Collection Number: N/A
Creator:
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892
Repository: Rare Books & Manuscripts
Abstract:
This finding aid was created from catalog cards and digital images of the original manuscripts obtained by The Walt Whitman Archive. The original papers and catalog cards are held in the Special Collections of the Boston Public Library.
Scope and Content:
Boston Public Library's Walt Whitman collection contains more than 300 volumes relating to and by Walt Whitman. The collection was founded by Whitman's earliest biographer, Dr. Richard M. Bucke. In 1896, four years after the poet's death, Bucke gave to the Library a large group of Whitman's material, much of which he had received as one of Whitman's literary executors. Included with the collection were 17 photographs and 20 manuscripts. Additions to the original gift include the collections of two other executors, gifts from several of Whitman's publishers, and another group of volumes from Bucke.
Biographical Information:
For additional biographical information, see
"Walt Whitman," by Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price, and the
chronology of Whitman's Life.
Subjects: Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892;
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892--Manuscripts;
Poets, American--19th century;
Series Description and Item Lists
Item: 1
Whitman Archive ID: bpl.00007
Manuscript ID: Whitman MSS.1
Title: "Eidólons"
Date: ca. 1876
Physical Description: 5 leaves
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
These leaves are a draft of "Eidólons," first published in 1876.
Item: 2
Whitman Archive ID: bpl.00006
Manuscript ID: Whitman MSS.1
Title: "To a Locomotive in Winter"
Date: ca. 1876
Physical Description: 2 leaves
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
This is a two-page draft of "To a Locomotive in Winter," first published in 1876. It appears that originally the two leaves were pasted together as one piece, but have since come apart. On the verso of page two is a draft of an unpublished poem entitled "The Soul and the Poet" which may be a draft of the poem "Come, said my Soul," the epigraph for the 1876, 1882, and 1891-1892 editions of Leaves of Grass.
Item: 3
Whitman Archive ID: bpl.00001
Manuscript ID: Whitman MSS.1
Title: "Out from Behind This Mask"
Date: ca. 1876
Physical Description: 1 leaf
View Images: 1 | 2
This is a signed draft of "Out from Behind This Mask," first published in 1876, which contains only a version of Part 1 of the poem.
Item: 4
Whitman Archive ID: bpl.00002
Manuscript ID: Whitman MSS.4
Title: "[p 287]"
Date: 1891
Physical Description: 1 leaf
View Images: 1 | 2
This list of corrections in Whitman's hand, including page numbers and notes, probably corresponds to a proof of the 1891-1892 edition of Leaves of Grass. On the other side is a letter of solicitation from Henry Romeike's clipping bureau dated September 10, 1891.
Item: 5
Whitman Archive ID: bpl.00004
Manuscript ID: Whitman MSS.3
Title: "[most poets finish single specimens of]"
Date: 1856
Physical Description: 1 leaf
View Images: 1 | 2
A group of several notes, all concerned with the general topic of the character and social position of the poet. The list of seven attributes that is written in the middle of the page formed the basis for a stanza of "Poem of The Singers, and of The Words of Poems," published in 1856 and later combined with one of the 1855 poems to become "Song of the Answerer." Pasted to the manuscript is a clipping, annotated and dated June 1856, about Hungarian literary nationalism, and at the bottom of the page are notes on the German poet Heinrich Heine.
Item: 6
Whitman Archive ID: bpl.00005
Manuscript ID: Whitman MSS.6
Title: "Corrections in Plates"
Date: ca. 1888
Physical Description: 1 leaf
View Images: 1 | 2
This list of corrections in Whitman's hand, including page numbers and notes, possibly corresponding to a proof of the 1891-1892 edition of Leaves of Grass and related to "[p 287]" above. The bottom of the page has Whitman's corrections to "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads" (first published in 1888).
Item: 7
Whitman Archive ID: bpl.00008
Manuscript ID: Whitman MSS.8
Title: "[There should be men's &]"
Date: undated
Physical Description: 1 leaf
View Images: 1 | 2
This prose note in Whitman's hand reads in full: "There should be men's & women's schools, as well as children's." The relationship of this note to Whitman's published work is unknown.
Item: 8
Whitman Archive ID: bpl.00009
Manuscript ID: Whitman MSS.1
Title: "[Whitman lately wrote to a friend]"
Date: undated
Physical Description: 1 leaf
View Images: 1 | 2
This prose draft in Whitman's hand describes his poetic ambitions, suggesting that the manuscript is related to one of Whitman's self-reviews that he published anonymously to promote his books.
Item: 9
Whitman Archive ID: bpl.00010
Manuscript ID: Whitman MSS.9
Title: "[You don't want something to wrestle with you]"
Date: undated
Physical Description: 2 leaves
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
This prose draft in Whitman's hand appears to be an interview with himself, suggesting that the manuscript is related to one of Whitman's self-promoting articles that he published anonymously. Also included is a handwritten draft of an advertisement for "Books to be had of David McKay, Publisher & Bookseller" written on similar paper with similar ink.
Item: 10
Whitman Archive ID: bpl.00023
Title: "The Professor's Answer."
Date: ca. 1870
Physical Description: 2 leaves
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
This early draft of a poem Whitman titled "The Professor's Answer" was tipped into a copy of John Burroughs's Notes on Walt Whitman, as Poet and Person between pages 16 and 17. This poem, ultimately titled "The Base of All Metaphysics," first appeared in print as an addition to the "Calamus" group in Leaves of Grass (1871).
Restrictions on Original Materials: Please consult with repository.
Preferred Citation: To identify this finding aid as a source, see the Archive's "Conditions of Use" page.
Repository Contact Information:
Rare Books & Manuscripts
Boston Public Library
P.O. Box 286
Boston, MA 02117