Synopsis LEAVES OF GRASS, Whitman's monumental and enormously influential book, was his life's work, going through nine different editions from its first publication in 1855 to the famous "deathbed edition" published the year he died (1892). Influenced by Eastern religions, his years as a journalist, the Civil War, 19th-century expansionism, Nature, the theater and opera, and his own liberal sexual attitudes, LEAVES OF GRASS is both a document set firmly in its time and a great transcendent work of art. It is also one of the most popular and accessible books of poems ever written, beloved since its first publication.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2002-04-01 | | Series: | Norton Critical Editions Series | | Edition Description: | Subsequent |
| Size | | Length: | 919 pages | | Height: | 9.3 in | | Width: | 5.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 30.4 oz |
Publisher's Note This edition contains the most complete and authoritative collection of Whitman's work in one volume. The basic text is the "Comprehensive Reader's Edition" of Leaves of Grass, which includes the 1892 "deathbed" edition preferred by Whitman, all the prefaces to the editions of Leaves of Grass, 45 poems and 28 passages from poems excluded from successive editions, 22 previously unpublished poems, and 43 poems and 60 manuscript fragments never before collectedthe fragments comprise over half of those in existence. A special section, Whitman on His Art, contains prose statements on his role as an artist, taken from his notebooks, letters, conversation, and newspaper articles. Criticism begins with Whitman's own anonymous review and presents a wide selection of the diverse opinions that have been held since by critics and by poets. Harold Blodgett's concluding essay discusses the pattern of Whitman's critical fortunes. About the series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.
Industry Reviews "Whitman's best poems have that permanent quality of being freshly painted, of not being dulled by the varnish of the years. Reading them a century after their publication, one feels the same shock and wonder and delight that Emerson felt when opening his presentation copy of the first edition. They carry us into a new world that Whitman discovered as if this very morning....After reading all of 'Leaves of Grass' as Whitman wished it to be preserved and after being won over by what I think is the best of it...I am willing to join the consensus that regards him as our most rewarding poet." Malcolm Cowley
"I am not blind to the worth of the wonderful gift of 'Leaves of Grass.' I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed." Ralph Waldo Emerson
| See an error? Submit a change request |