Editing Leaves of Grass (section)

==== 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>