Editing Leaves of Grass (section)

=== {{Anchor|&nbsp;Republications|}}Republications, 1856–1889 ===
''Leaves of Grass'' went through six or nine editions, depending on how new editions are distinguished. Scholars who hold that a separate edition is characterized by an entirely new set of type will only count the 1855, 1856, 1860, 1867, 1871–72, and 1881 printings; whereas others who do not mandate that criterion will also count the reprintings in 1876, 1888–1889, and 1891–1892 (the so-called "deathbed edition").<ref name="WDL">{{cite web|date=1855|title=Leaves of Grass|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/03023679/|access-date=August 3, 2013|website=[[World Digital Library]]}}</ref> The editions were of varying length, each one larger and augmented from the previous version—the final edition reached over 400 poems.

==== 1856–1860 ====
Emerson's positive response to the 1855 edition inspired Whitman to quickly produce a much-expanded second edition in 1856.<ref name="Miller27" /> This new ''Leaves of Grass'' contained 384 pages and had a cover price of one dollar.<ref name="Reynolds352" /> It also included a phrase from Emerson's letter, printed in [[Metal leaf#Gold Leaf|gold leaf]]: "I Greet You at the Beginning of a Great Career."<ref name="Reynolds352" /> Recognized as a "first" for U.S. book publishing and marketing techniques, Whitman has been cited as "inventing" the use of the book [[blurb]]. Professor [[Laura Dassow Walls]] noted, "In one stroke, Whitman had given birth to the modern cover blurb, quite without Emerson's permission."<ref>[[Laura Dassow Walls|Walls, Laura Dassow]]. ''Henry David Thoreau – A Life'', 394. Chicago and London: [[The University of Chicago Press]], 2017. {{ISBN|978-0-226-59937-3}}</ref> Emerson later took offense that his letter was made public{{sfn|Callow|1992|p=236}} and became more critical of Whitman's work.{{sfn|Reynolds|1995|p=343}} The 1856 edition added "Sun-Down Poem" (retitled "[[Crossing Brooklyn Ferry]]" in the 1860 edition) and "Poem of Procreation" (retitled "A Woman Waits for Me" in the 1867 edition).<ref>{{cite book |title=Leaves of Grass |editor-last1=Bradley |editor-first1=Sculley |editor-last2=Blodgett |editor-first2=Harold W. |location=New York |publisher=W. W. Norton & Co. |series=A Norton Critical Edition |year=1973 |pages=100–101, 158–159}}</ref>

[[File:1860 LeavesOfGrass Thayer Eldridge NYPL.jpeg|thumb|Cover of 1860 edition]]
[[Thayer & Eldridge]], publishers of the 1860 edition, declared [[bankruptcy]] shortly after the book's publication, and were almost unable to pay Whitman. "In regard to money matters", they wrote, "we are very short ourselves and it is quite impossible to send the sum". Whitman received only $250, and the original plates made their way to Boston publisher Horace Wentworth.{{sfn|Reynolds|1995|p=405}} When the 456-page book was finally issued, Whitman said, "It is quite 'odd', of course", referring to its appearance: it was bound in orange cloth with symbols like a rising sun with nine spokes of light and a butterfly perched on a hand.{{sfn|Kaplan|1979|p=250}} Whitman claimed that the butterfly was real in order to foster his image as being "one with nature". In fact, the butterfly was made of cloth and was attached to his finger with wire.<ref>{{cite web|title=Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass|website= The Library of Congress Exhibitions: American Treasures|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/whitman-goodgraypoet.html}}</ref> The major poems added to this edition were "A Word Out of the Sea" (later retitled "[[Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking]]"), "Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in Hand", "I Hear America Singing", and "As I Ebb'd With the Ocean of Life".<ref>{{cite web |title=Leaves of Grass, 1860 edition |last=Eiselein |first=Gregory |editor-last1=Cohen |editor-first1=Matt |editor-last2=Folsom |editor-first2=Ed |editor-last3=Price |editor-first3=Kenneth M. |publisher=The Walt Whitman Archive |date=1998 |url=https://whitmanarchive.org/item/encyclopedia_entry23}}</ref>

==== 1867–1889 ====
The 1867 edition was intended to be, according to Whitman, "a new & much better edition of ''Leaves of Grass'' complete — that ''unkillable'' work!"{{sfn|Reynolds|1995|p=474}} He assumed it would be the final edition.{{sfn|Loving|1999|p=314}} It included the ''[[Drum-Taps]]'' section, its ''[[Sequel to Drum-Taps|Sequel]]'', and the new ''Songs before Parting''. The book was delayed when the binder went bankrupt and its distributing firm failed. When it was finally printed, it was a simple edition and the first to omit a picture of the poet.{{sfn|Reynolds|1995|p=475}}

In 1879, Richard Worthington purchased the [[electrotyping|electrotype plates]] and began printing and marketing unauthorized copies of ''Leaves of Grass''.

Whitman scholar Dennis Renner has written that the 1881 edition gave the poet "a chance to consolidate and unify his work late in his career. He could achieve 'the consecutiveness and ''ensemble''{{'}} he had always wanted".<ref name=1881_edition>{{cite web |title=Leaves of Grass, 1881–82 edition |last=Renner |first=Dennis K. |editor-last1=Cohen |editor-first1=Matt |editor-last2=Folsom |editor-first2=Ed |editor-last3=Price |editor-first3=Kenneth M. |publisher=The Walt Whitman Archive |url=https://whitmanarchive.org/item/encyclopedia_entry26 |date=1998}}</ref> He spent the summer of 1881 revising the book and oversaw its October publication in Boston by [[James R. Osgood]] and Co. Most modern reissues of ''Leaves of Grass'' treat the 1881 edition as the definitive collection.<ref name=1881_edition/> This edition incorporated poems from his prior collections, ''[[Passage to India (Whitman)|Passage to India]]'' (1871) and ''Two Rivulets'' (1876).{{sfn|Bradley|Blodgett|1973|p=410}} 

The 1889 (eighth) edition was little changed from the 1881 version, but it was more embellished and featured several portraits of Whitman. The biggest change was the addition of an "Annex" of miscellaneous extra poems.{{sfn|Miller|1962|p=55}}

====Sections====
By its later editions, ''Leaves of Grass'' had grown to 14 sections:{{col-begin}}{{col-break}}
* Inscriptions&nbsp;
* Children of Adam
* [[Calamus (poems)|Calamus]]
* Birds of Passage
* [[Sea-Drift]]
* By the Roadside&nbsp;
* [[Drum-Taps]]
{{col-break}}
* [[Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln#Whitman's poetry on Abraham Lincoln|Memories of President Lincoln]]
* Autumn Rivulets
* Whispers of Heavenly Death
* From Noon to Starry Night
* Songs of Parting
* First Annex: Sands at Seventy&nbsp;
* Second Annex: Good-bye My Fancy<ref>{{cite web |url=https://poets.org/text/guide-walt-whitmans-leaves-grass |title=A Guide to Walt Whitman's ''Leaves of Grass'' |website=Poets.org |date=3 November 2021}}</ref>
{{col-end}}
Earlier editions contained a section called "Chants Democratic"; later editions omitted some of the poems from this section, publishing others in "Calamus" and other sections.