Inventory of the Trent Collection of Whitmaniana, 1841-1947, bulk 1845-1849, 1854-1857, and 1864-1892
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Descriptive Summary
Title
Trent Collection of Whitmaniana, 1841-1947, bulk 1845-1849, 1854-1857, and 1864-1892
Creator
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892
Extent
ca. 40 Linear Feet
ca. 650 Items
Repository
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University
Language
English.
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Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research.
[However, patrons must sign the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library to use this collection.
Use Restrictions
The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Trent Collection of Whitmaniana, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The bulk of Duke University's Walt Whitman holdings were acquired through a series of substantial donations made by Dr. and Mrs. Josiah C. Trent, from whom the Trent Collection of Whitmaniana takes its name. Much of the Trent material was originally gathered by Richard Maurice Bucke, Whitman's friend and literary executor, who sold manuscript versions of his biography of Whitman, along with his collection of unpublished letters and Whitman's personal papers and books, in London in 1935. The next year, Jacob Schwartz offered for sale in New York a large portion of the Whitman holdings that had belonged to Bucke, and many of the items listed in the catalogue of this sale were a part of the original donation made to Duke by Dr. and Mrs. Trent in 1942. The Trent family made several important additions to their initial bequest in the years following the establishment of the collection, but Duke University does not expect its Whitman manuscript holdings to expand at any time in the near future.
Processing Information
Processed by Melissa Delbridge and Daniel Breen. Completed October 29, 2003
Finding aid encoded by Michael Shumate and Elizabeth Arnold.
Finding aid revised by Christine Kirkham and Paolo Mangiafico, December 2006. Encoding updated by Jill Katte, December 2007.
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
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Biographical Note
1819 May 31 | Born Walter Whitman in West Hills, Huntington Township, N.Y. to Walter and Louisa (VanVelsor) Whitman |
1823 | Whitman family moved to Brooklyn |
1825-1830 | Attended Brooklyn public schools |
1830-1831 | Worked as office boy for lawyer and doctor |
1831-1832 | Printing apprentice for Long Island Patriot |
1832-1835 | Worked as compositor for Long Island Star |
1836-1838 | Taught school on Long Island |
1838-1839 | Worked on two newspapers, Long Islander and Long Island Democrat |
1840 | Campaigned for Martin Van Buren |
1840-1841 | Taught school on Long Island |
1841 | Moved to New York City; worked as compositor for The New World |
1842-1845 | Worked for and contributed to various newspapers in New York City |
1845-1846 | Returned to Brooklyn and worked for Evening Star |
1846-1848 | Edited Brooklyn's Daily Eagle |
1848 | Left Daily Eagle, went to New Orleans to edit Daily Crescent. Resigned and returned to Brooklyn. |
1848-1849 | Founded and edited Weekly Freeman, a "free-soil" newspaper |
1849-1854 | Operated printing office, bookstore, and house building business and did freelance journalism |
1855 | Copyrighted first edition of Leaves of Grass |
1855-1856 | Wrote for Life Illustrated; published second edition of Leaves of Grass |
1857-1860 | Edited Brooklyn Daily Times |
1860 | Published third edition of Leaves of Grass |
1861-1862 | Wrote freelance journalism; visited soldiers in New York Hospital; visited wounded brother in Fredericksburg |
1863-1864 | Moved to Washington, D.C.; worked as clerk in Army Paymaster's Office; visited military hospitals; returned to Brooklyn for 6 months in 1864 |
1865 | Returned to Washington, D.C. and worked as clerk in Indian Bureau of Department of the Interior; began and suspended printing of Drum-Taps; discharged by Secretary James Harlan for writing "obscene" poetry; transferred to clerkship in Attorney General's Office; again published Drum-Taps and Sequel; began relationship with Peter Doyle |
1866 | William D. O'Connor published The Good Gray Poet, a defense co-written by Whitman in response to Whitman's firing by Harlan |
1867 | 4th edition of Leaves of Grass published |
1868 | Poems of Walt Whitman published in London |
1870 | 5th edition of Leaves of Grass published |
1873 | Suffered paralytic stroke; mother died on May 23rd; moved in with brother George in Camden, N.J. |
1874 | Discharged from his position in Washington, D.C. |
1876 | Published Centennial edition of Leaves of Grass and Two Rivulets, and Memoranda During the War; befriended Harry Stafford |
1879 | Gave first Lincoln lecture in New York |
1882 | Publicity concerning the suppression of Leaves of Grass in Boston resulted in unprecedented sales |
1888 | Suffered a second paralytic stroke; made will naming Richard Maurice Bucke, Thomas Harned, and Horace Traubel literary executors |
1889 | 70th birthday commemorated in Camden's Compliment to Walt Whitman |
1892 | Died March 26th; buried in Harleigh Cemetery, Camden, N.J. |
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Collection Overview
The Trent Collection of Whitmaniana incorporates material spanning the dates 1841-1947, with the bulk of the material dated 1845-1849, 1854-1857, and 1864-1892. The virtual reorganization of the collection, based upon that devised by Ellen F. Frey in A Bibliography of Walt Whitman (Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1945), divides it into six series: Correspondence, Writings, Clippings, Material About or Relating to Whitman, Portraits, and Miscellany.
Correspondence is separated into two subseries: "Letters To or About Walt Whitman," and "Letters From or By Walt Whitman." Most of Whitman's letters in the collection were written between 1880 and 1891. The Clippings Series lists both large groups of clippings collected and annotated by Whitman, and clippings Whitman took from complete or nearly complete articles. Whenever possible, these have been dated according to the periodical in which the articles originally appeared. Material About or Relating to Whitman is comprised of four subseries that catalog manuscript versions of Richard Maurice Bucke's biography of Whitman, other manuscript material written mostly by Whitman's friends, and books, pamphlets, and periodicals about Whitman's life and work, most of which date between the late nineteenth century and the end of World War II. The Portraits Series includes formal photographic and painted portraits, etchings, engravings, and sketches, both of Whitman and of other subjects, including George Sand, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Whitman's brother George. The Miscellany consists of ephemera related to Whitman's life and career as a poet. Two scrapbooks, a leaflet of receipts, book wrappers for the first edition of Leaves of Grass, and documents relating to the Whitman fund are listed among this series' eclectic contents.
By far the largest series in the collection, the Writings Series contains manuscript and printed versions of poetry and prose dating from Whitman's career in journalism up through the mid-1940s. It is divided into seven subseries: Manuscript Poems (1855-1882 and undated); Manuscript Prose (1852-1891 and undated); Proofs (1874-1891 and undated); Poems Set to Music (1901-1933); Books and Periodicals Containing Contributions by Whitman (1841-1924); Editions of Whitman's Writings (1855-1944); and Bibliographies and Catalogs (1922-1943). The first subseries, "Manuscript Poems," is further subdivided into categories intended to define three separate levels of poetic composition: manuscript versions of poems that appear in at least one edition of Leaves of Grass, manuscript versions of poems not published in Leaves of Grass, and verse fragments and outlines. The researcher is advised to consult the NYU Collected Writings of Walt Whitman, particularly Harold W. Blodgett and Sculley Bradley, eds., Leaves of Grass: A Comprehensive Reader's Edition (New York: NYUP, 1965), pp. 585-706, for publication of previously uncollected material. Although older, Oscar Lovell Triggs, ed., Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, vol. 3 of 10 (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1902) and Clarence Gohdes and Rollo G. Silver, eds., Faint Clews and Indirections: Manuscripts of Walt Whitman and His Family (Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1949) are also helpful, the former particularly when used alongside Frey's Bibliography.
The Manuscript Prose Subseries in the Writings Series is further divided into seven categories. The first three are comprised of manuscript versions of stories, prefaces, and essays and lectures, respectively. Four less distinct subheadings follow. "Notes on Literature" represents an almost exact transliteration of Frey's category of the same name, however it should be noted that this category does not, at the time of writing, list all of Trent's holdings in Whitman's literary-critical manuscripts. Some literary criticism is contained in "Autobiographical Manuscripts" and "Whitman on His Own Writings," along with more purely impressionistic self-reflection. "Miscellany" should also be consulted, as it brings together in an unsystematic way Whitman's notes on travel, reading, and education as well as a scattering of notes on poetry and different forms of literary production.
The last five subseries of the Writings Series bring together various published versions of Whitman's writing. Annotated proofs of his poetry and prose are identified in the finding aid, and cross-references are included between the Proofs Subseries and the Books and Periodicals Containing Contributions by Whitman Subseries in instances where the Trent Collection lists both a proof and a published version of a poem or article among its headings. The Books and Periodicals Containing Contributions by Whitman Subseries and the Bibliographies and Catalogs Subseries are nearly comprehensive surveys of pre-World War II editions of Whitman's writing and of Whitman bibliographies. The Poems Set to Music Subseries catalogs a number of Whitman's poems that were given musical settings, mostly in the first two decades of the twentieth century. See Bella C. Landauer, Leaves of Music by Walt Whitman, call number Trent I-9, for full bibliographic information on these pieces.
Many monographs by and about Walt Whitman and housed in the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library have been cataloged individually. These can be found by searching the Duke online catalog.
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Subject Headings
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
-
Trent, Josiah C. (Josiah Charles), 1914-
-
Bucke, Richard Maurice, 1837-1902.
- Frey, Ellen Frances. Catalogue of the Whitman collection in the Duke University Library, 1945: t.p. (Ellen Frances Frey)
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Portraits.
- Sand, George, 1804-1876. Portraits.
- Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894. Portraits.
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Leaves of grass.
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American literature--19th century.
-
Poets, American--19th century.
-
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892.
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892—Manuscripts.
-
Poets, American--19th century.
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Detailed Description of Collection
Correspondence Series, 1860-1922 and undated
Letters to and from friends, family members, editors, publishers, and soldiers Whitman met during his time as a nurse in military hospitals in and around Washington, D. C. primarily during the Civil War. However, correspondence is dated both during and after the war.
Correspondence to or about Whitman subseries, 1860-1922 and undated (bulk 1860-1892)
Includes letters from friends, family members, and soldiers. Many of the letters have been bound into various scrapbooks and collections of other Whitman papers, and it is advisable to consult the reference archivist with regard to the physical provenance of the material before requesting correspondence in bulk. Listed alphabetically by author.
Bucke, Richard Maurice
III [display]:
To Reuben Farwell (Typescript), 1898 Oct. 14
III-5:
To W. D. O'Connor, 1880 July 1
To Walt Whitman, 1888 Aug. 17
To Walt Whitman, 1889 Jan. 18
To Editor of Scribner's Monthly, undated
Burroughs, Julian
III-9:
To Bayard Wyman, undated
Chainey, George
III-5:
To W. D. O'Connor, 1882 July 11
Includes two clippings on Massachusetts controversy over Leaves of Grass.
To W. D. O'Connor, 1882 July 30
Davenport, William E.
III-5:
To Dr. William Roscoe Thayer, 1921 Nov. 26
To Dr. William Roscoe Thayer, 1922 Jan. 8
To Dr. William Roscoe Thayer, 1922 Apr. 10
Doyle, Peter
III-5:
To Walt Whitman 1868 Sept. 21
Farwell, Reuben
III-5 [III display]:
To Walt Whitman, 1864 Apr. 30
To Walt Whitman, 1864 May 5
To Walt Whitman, 1864 May 10
To Walt Whitman, 1864 June 8
To Walt Whitman, 1864 Oct. 2
To Walt Whitman, 1864 Nov. 7
To Walt Whitman, 1864 Nov. 21
To Walt Whitman, [1865?] June 16
To Walt Whitman, 1875 Feb. 11
To Walt Whitman, 1875 Mar. 5
To Walt Whitman, 1875 Aug. 16
Hay, John
Common Room :
To "Charlie," 1861 Aug. 2
Includes a picture of Hay.
Heyde, Charles L.
III-5:
To Louisa Whitman, 1868 Dec.
To Louisa Whitman, 1852-1873
(8 letters)
To Walt Whitman, 1860-1892
(67 letters)
Heyde, Hannah Whitman
III-5:
To Louisa Whitman, undated
(6 letters)
Four of these letters are written as additions to those by her husband listed above.
To Walt Whitman, undated
Holmes, Oliver Wendell
III-5: [II display]:
To unidentified recipient, 1890 Feb. 18
Includes an autographed photograph of Holmes, Cf. Portraits of Others Subseries
Hugo, Victor
III-5:
To Arthur Monnanteuil, 1868 July 7
Walt Whitman's translation of Hugo's letter, with a signed photograph of Whitman, Cf. Portraits of Whitman Subseries
Price, Abby H.
III-5:
To Louisa Whitman, undated
Price, Helen E.
III-5:
To Louisa Whitman, 1872 Oct. 13
To Louisa Whitman, 1872 Nov. 24
To Louisa Whitman, 1873 Jan. 1
To Louisa Whitman, 1873 Jan. 31
To Louisa Whitman, 1873 Feb. 9
To Louisa Whitman, [1873?],
"Saturday"
To Louisa Whitman, 1873 Mar. 27
Stansberry, William
II-9:
To Walt Whitman, 1873 Dec. 9
To Walt Whitman, 1874 May 12
To Walt Whitman, 1874 June 28
To Walt Whitman, 1875 July 21
To Walt Whitman from Stansberry's wife, 1874 July 15
Van Nostrand, Mary Whitman
III-5:
To Louisa Whitman, [1875?] Feb. 16
To Walt Whitman, 1875 Feb. 16
Whitman, George
III-5:
To Louisa Whitman, 1861-1865
(46 letters)
To Walt Whitman, 1861-1865
(8 letters)
To Thomas Jefferson Whitman, undated
Whitman, Louisa
III-5:
To Walt Whitman, 1860-1873
(142 letters)
Whitman, Thomas Jefferson
III-5:
To Walt Whitman, undated
Correspondence from or by Whitman Subseries, 1861-1891
Contains letters by friends and family members, editors, publishers, and soldiers. As with the Correspondence to or about Whitman Subseries, many letters in this subseries are bound with other material and the reference archivist should be contacted before correspondence is requested in bulk. Most of Whitman's letters in the Trent Collection date from 1880 to 1891. Listed alphabetically by recipient.
Bradley, Tom
III-9:
1880 Dec. 17
1881 Mar. 17
1883 Sept. 5
Bucke, Richard Maurice
II-9:
1892 Jan. 27
Burroughs, John
III-9:
1868 Oct. 22 [?]
III-1:
1878 July 5
II-9:
1885 June 23
Burroughs, John and Ursula
II-9:
1875 Mar. 2
Carpenter, Edward
1877 Oct. 5
Includes two pictures of Whitman, Cf. Portraits of Whitman Subseries
1877 Nov. 27
1885 Aug. 5
1888 Feb. 15
Contemporary Club, Executive Committee
II-9:
1888 Feb. 15
Cox, George
II-9:
1887 June 14
Dowden, Edward
II-9:
1876 Mar. 4
Doyle, Peter
II-9:
1877 July 2
1880 July 24
Dec. 20
Edmunds, J. M., Postmaster
II-9:
Nov. 17
Eldridge, Charley
II-9:
1873 July 7
1884 May 7
Harper's Magazine
II-9 (1 display):
To Editor, 1873 Nov. 2
To Foreman in the Composing Room, 1873 Dec. 15
Johnson, R. U.
1884 Aug. 4
Kennedy, William Sloane
I-8:
1881 Dec. 21
1886 Aug. 5
1887 Feb. 21
1887 Mar. 1
1887 June 13
1887 July 13
1887 Sept. 14
II-9:
1887 Oct. 4
I-8:
1887 Nov. 17
1888 January 10
1888 Mar. 26
1888 May 7
1888 Sept. 1
1888 Oct. 19
1889 Jan. 5
II-9:
1889 Feb. 14
1889 Oct. 13
1889 Oct. 17
1890 Jan. 27
1890 Feb. 10
1890 Apr. 1
Includes a photograph of Whitman, a ticket to his lecture on Lincoln at Madison Square Theater, 1887 14 Apr., and a clipping from the Philadelphia Press, 1887 16 Apr. describing the lecture. For other material on this lecture, Cf. Miscellany Series; for the photographs, Cf. Portraits of Whitman Subseries
1890 Apr. 11
1890 June 18
1890 Aug. 4
1890 Dec. 29
I-8:
1881-1889
(77 postcards)
"McGuire"
II-9:
1872 May 2
O'Connor, William D.
II-9:
1868 Oct. 4
Rolleston, T. W. H.
I-4:
1880 Dec. 2
Russell, Dr. LeBaron [?]
I-9:
1864 Feb.
Ryder, Jr., Anson
II-9:
1866 Dec. 14
Stansberry, William
II-9:
1874 May 20
Stilwell, Julia Elizabeth
II-9:
1863 Oct. 21
Stoddart, J. M.
II-9:
1890 Apr. 24
Includes proof copy of "To the Sun-Set Breeze," Cf. Poems Set to Music Subseries
Swinton, John
II-9:
1865 Feb. 3
Includes a letter from General Grant's staff
Tilton, J. W.
II-9:
1889 Jan. 6
Tottie, Oscar
I-2:
July 26
Trowbridge, J. T. [?]
II-9:
1870 [?] Sept. 24
Trubner and Company
II-9:
1873 Dec. 21
1878 Oct. 1 [?]
Van Wyck, Samuel
II-9:
1879 May 28
Waters, George
II-9:
1878 Nov. 10
Whitman, George
II-9:
1861 July 12
Whitman, Louisa
II-9:
1866 June 26
1866 June 29
1867 Mar. 19
1867 Mar. 26
1867 Apr. 16
1867 Apr. 30
1868 June 6
1868 July 10
1868 Aug. 24
1868 Aug. 30
1868 Nov. 24
1872 Aug. 22
1872 Aug. 27
1872 Oct. 15
1872 [?] Nov. 14
1873 Jan. 17
Whitman, Thomas Jefferson
II-9:
1867 Apr. 29
Wilkins, Edward
II-9:
1889 Dec. 31
1890 Mar. 20
1890 Apr. 29
1890 Dec. 24
1891 Sept. 30
Letters to Unidentified Recipients
II-9:
1889 Oct. 7
1891 May 8
Writings Series, 1841-1944 and undated
Consists of manuscript drafts and revisions of Whitman's poetry and prose as well as proofs and published versions of his work from his early career in journalism up through the end of his life. The categorization of the manuscript material is necessarily inexact, and it is recommended that the researcher consult Ellen F. Frey's A Bibliography of Walt Whitman, Being a Catalog of the Trent Collection of Duke University, for detailed descriptions of the manuscript fragments. A copy of Frey's Bibliography is available from the reference staff upon request. The Writings Series also contains published versions of certain of Whitman's poems that were set to music by several different composers. For a comprehensive guide to these works, see Frey or see Bella C. Landauer, Leaves of Music by Walt Whitman, call number Trent I-9.
Manuscript Poems Subseries, ca. 1855 and undated
Manuscript drafts and revisions of poems appearing in successive editions of Leaves of Grass and poems not published during Whitman's lifetime or not intended for Leaves of Grass.
Leaves of Grass
Manuscript fragments are labeled "draft portions" if they constitute early drafts or revisions of a poem appearing in any of the editions of Leaves of Grass published during Whitman's lifetime. Fragments are labeled "draft outlines" if Frey suggests that they represent "ideas" treated in Leaves of Grass. Listed alphabetically by title.
MS 4to 14:
"By Blue Ontario's Shore"
(Autograph MS, draft of 1856 version, portion)

2 pages
MS 4to 20:
"Carols Closing Sixty-Nine"
(Autograph MS, title suggestions for
"Sands at Seventy"
)

2 pages
MS 4to 9:
"Faces"
(Autograph MS, draft portions)

2 pages
MS 4to 10:
"Great are the myths..."
(Autograph MS)

2 pages
MS 4to 11:
"You lusty and graceflu youth!"
(draft portions)

2 pages
MS 4to 195:
"In Paths Untrodden"
(Autograph MS, draft portions)

2 pages
I-1:
Leaves of Grass (Autograph MS and printed pages, printer's copy for portions of 1881-1882 edition)
II.
"Song of Myself"
(Pages 24-48)

25 pages
IV.
"Song of the Exposition "

8 pages
X.
"Autumn Rivulets (Pages 1-26)"

26 pages
X.
"Autumn Rivulets (Pages 27-53)"

27 pages
XII.
"Whispers of Heavenly Death"

14 pages
XIII.
"From Noon to Starry Night"

27 pages
MS 12mo 15:
"THE Poem (?One grand, eclipsing poem Poem of Materials)"
(Autograph MS, draft portions of "Starting from Paumanok" and "Mediums")

2 pages
II-5 17:
"Outlines for a Tomb"
(Autograph MS, draft outline)

1 page
II-5 21:
"Pictures"
(Autograph MS, draft outline)

1 page
MS 4to 22:
"Theme for piece poem An opera"
(Autograph MS, draft portions of
"Proud Music of the Storm"
and
"The Mystic Trumpeter"
)

2 pages
MS 4to 23:
"Proud Music of the Storm"
(Autograph MS, draft outline and corrections)

2 pages
MS 4to 1:
"Song of Myself"
(Autograph MS, draft portions), including
"Unnamed Lands"

6 pages
MS 2:
"Song of Myself"
(Autograph MS, draft portions)
" To be at all - ..."

2 pages
MS 3:
"Song of Myself"
(Autograph MS, draft outlines)
" It is no miracle now..."

2 pages
MS 4to 4:
"Song of Myself"
(Autograph MS, draft portions)
"Light and air!"

2 pages
MS 4to 6:
"Song of Myself"
(Autograph MS, draft portions)
"Bibles, traditions, and formulas..."

2 pages
MS 4to 7:
"Song of Myself"
(Autograph MS, draft portions)
"My Spirit sped back..."

2 pages
II-7 201:
"Song of Myself"
(Autograph MS, draft outlines)
"There is no word in any tongue"

2 pages
II-5 12:
"Song of the Broad-Axe"
(Autograph MS, draft outline)

1 page
MS 18:
"Song of the Redwood Tree"
(Autograph MS, draft portions)

4 pages
MS 4to 8:
"A Song for Occupations"
(Autograph MS, draft outline)

2 pages
MS 4to 194:
"A Song of Joys"
(Autograph MS, draft outline)

1 page
MS 4to 16:
"Proem These are the sights that I have absorbed in Manhattan Island"
(Draft outline, draft portions, possibly for use in "Starting from Paumanok")

1 page
MS 13:
"This Compost"
(Autograph MS, draft portions)

10 pages
MS 4to 5:
"I know as well as you that Bibles are divine revelations"
(Autograph MS, draft portions of
"Who Learns My Lesson Complete?"
)

2 pages
Poems Not Appearing in Leaves of Grass
Listed alphabetically by headings.
MS 4to 24:
"All Hands Round"

2 pages
II-7 200:
"I am not content now..."

1 page
MS 4to 25:
"I am that halfgrown angry boy..."

2 pages
II-5 26:
"Poem of Existence"

1 page
MS 12mo 27:
"Remembrances I plant American ground with"

2 pages
Notes for Poems
Listed alphabetically by headings.
MS 2o 29:
Autograph MSS
"[Fragments and Ideas for Poems] (Frey's heading)"

6 pages
MS 2o 30:
Autograph MSS
"[Notes for Poems] (Frey's heading)"

7 pages
MS 2o 31:
Autograph MSS
"[Outlines for Poems] (Frey's heading)"

6 pages
MS 4to 32:
Autograph MSS
"[Preliminary Studies for Poems] (Frey's heading)"

7 pages
MS 2o 33:
Autograph MSS
"[Suggestions for Poems] (Frey's heading)"

5 pages
Manuscript Prose Subseries, 1852-1891 and undated
Includes manuscript drafts and revisions of stories, prefaces, essays, lectures, Whitman's commentary on his own literary work and on that by other authors, autobiographical material, and a section of miscellany that consists of notes made on various subjects, the most prominent among them being travel and intellectual history. The fragments in each group are listed alphabetically by headings.
Stories
Listed alphabetically by headings or titles.
MS 4to 191:
"Distinctness every syllable"
(Autograph MS, draft portion)

1 page
MS 56:
"Of a summer evening a boy fell asleep"
(Autograph MS, complete draft)

5 pages
MS 2o 38:
"This singular young man was unnoted for any strong qualities"
(Autograph MS, complete draft)

2 pages
Prefaces
Listed alphabetically by headings.
MS 2o 47:
"Camden - Phila April 8, '84"
(Autograph MS, draft of preface to unpublished edition of Whitman's works)

2 pages
MS 4to 62:
"Eidolons Preface Two Rivulets"
(Autograph MS, draft of preface to
Two Rivulets, 1876)

8 pages
MS 12mo 58:
"For Dem Vistas"
(Autograph MS, draft of preface to
Democratic Vistas )

5 pages
MS 4to 63:
"The name of this tells much of the story..."
(Autograph MS, draft of preface [?])

5 pages
MS 4to 69:
"(Of the great poet) (Finally) For preface"
(Autograph MS, draft of introduction to [?])

3 pages
MS 50:
"Struggling steadily to the front..."
(Autograph MS, draft of prefatory notes to
"Song of the Exposition,"
appearing in
Two Rivulets )

4 pages
Essays, Lectures, and Notes
Listed alphabetically by headings.
MS 12mo 61:
"America needs her own poems,..."
(Autograph MS, possibly a draft of a lecture commenting on 1855 preface to
Leaves of Grass )

2 pages
MS 12mo 60:
"Canada lecture"
(Autograph MS, partly published in
Diary in Canada, p. 72)

5 pages
MS 57:
"for Ottawa lecture"
(Autograph MS, draft outline)

3 pages
MS 64:
"Founding a new American Religion (? No Religion)"
(Autograph MS, draft outline)

4 pages
II-5 42:
"It is no doubt impossible to say anything not already said..."
(Autograph MS, draft of a lecture on public education)

12 pages
MS 65:
"It is said, perhaps rather quizzically by one of my friends..."
(Autograph MS, draft outline of a lecture on Canada)

2 pages
MS 66:
"Italian Singers in America"
(Autograph MS, draft paragraph on the contralto Alboni)

4 pages
MS 4to 44:
"Materialism"
(Autograph MS, draft of lecture/essay on evolution)

1 page
MS 4to 36:
"The mob, the trial of Warren Hastings, the death-bed of Robert Burns"
(Autograph MS, draft portion of an essay on Elias Hicks)

1 page
MS 2o 37:
"The Old World (Europe and Asia) is the region of the poetry of the past"
(Autograph MS, draft portion of the last paragraph of
"Shakespeare for America"
)

2 pages
II-5 41:
"Our own account of this poem, 'the German Iliad'"
(Autograph MS, draft of an essay of the
Niebelungenlied and a translation of part of the poem)

4 pages
MS 4to 45:
"? outset of lecture"
(Autograph MS, draft outline on preparation for study)

1 page
II-5 39:
"Rel."
(Autograph MS, draft outline for a lecture on religion)

4 pages
MS 48:
"Sculpture"
(Autograph MS, lecture/essay on the Greeks)

1 page
II-5 40:
"Slavery - the Slaveholders - The Constitution..."
(Autograph MS, draft portions of antislavery speeches)

20 pages
MS 54:
"Spring of '59 - read Dante's 'Inferno'"
(Autograph MS, draft of essay on Dante)

4 pages
MS 2o 43:
"Wants"
(Autograph MS, draft portions of an essay on labor advertisements)

7 pages
MS 4to 49:
"A Word About Tennyson"
(Autograph MS, printer's copy for Whitman's Tennyson essay in the
Critic, Jan. 1, 1887)

7 pages
Notes on Literature
Listed alphabetically by headings or first lines.
II-5 101:
"[Miscellaneous Notes, Chiefly Literary] (in Frey)"
(Autograph MSS)

9 pages
MS 4to 73:
"1855 - I have looked over Gerald Massey's Poems..."
(Autograph MS, notes on Massey)

1 page
MS 4to 99:
"But Though so loving, so singing, so dwelling on the past"
(Autograph MS, fragmentary remarks on a poet, probably Tennyson [in Frey])

1 page
MS 12mo 92:
"Diderot (Dennis Diderot)"
(Autograph MS, outline of Diderot's career)

2 pages
MS 4to 74:
"Dr. Priestly (or Priestley)"
(Autograph MS, notes on Priestley)

1 page
MS 4to 72:
"Dryden 1631 to 1701"
(Autograph MS, impressions of Dryden)

5 pages
MS 91:
"Edmund Spenser"
(Autograph MS, outline of Spencer's career)

3 pages
MS 4to 86:
"Even now Jasmund, the people's poet,..."
(Autograph MS, notes on Jasmin, Pythagoras, Ossian, Zoroaster, and Greek history and literature)

4 pages
MS 4to 76:
"Frances Wright"
(Autograph MS, notes on Wright's life)

1 page
MS 93:
"Frederick Schlegel 1772 - 1829"
(Autograph MS, note on the life and philosophy of Schlegel)

1 page
MS 4to 80:
"Goethe - from about 1750 to 1832"
(Autograph MS, notes on Goethe)

3 pages
MS 4to 81:
"Goethe's Complete Works, last complete edition of his own revision"
(Autograph MS, notes on Goethe)

4 pages
MS 4to 85:
"He is a precursor, in some sort of great differences"
(Autograph MS, notes on Swedenborg)

4 pages
MS 90:
"His earliest printed plays 1597 Romeo and Juliet"
(Autograph MS, notes on the life and work of Shakespeare)

9 pages
MS 94:
"The Iliad, The Bible (? & The Eschylean tragedies)"
(Autograph MS, notes on the
Iliad and the Bible)

4 pages
MS 79:
"J. J. Rousseau"
(Autograph MS, biographical sketch of Rousseau)

4 pages
MS 4to 82:
"(Jean Paul) Friedrich Richter"
(Autograph MS, notes on the life and style of Richter)

2 pages
MS 78:
"Lafontaine, born about 1621 lived 73 years - (1694)"
(Autograph MS, notes on Lafontaine's career)

2 pages
MS 4to 77:
"Louis 14th born 1638 - died 1715 Corneille"
(Autograph MS, notes on the drama of Louis XIV's age)

1 page
MS 4to 84:
"Memory - ..."
(Autograph MS, notes on the life of Plutarch preceded by a quotation from Locke)

1 page
III-3 #5 c. 1:
"The Nibelungen"
(Autograph MS, notes on the
Nibelungenlied, mounted on inside front board of
Voices from the Press )

1 page
MS 12mo 89:
"Oliver Goldsmith"
(Autograph MS, biographical sketch of Goldsmith)

2 pages
MS 117:
"Shakespeare and Walter Scott"
(Autograph MS, notes on writing)

2 pages
MS 4to 83:
"Schiller - born 1759 - died 1806"
(Autograph MS, notes on Schiller and other German poets)

2 pages
MS 4to 75:
"Shelley, born 1792 - died 1822 Keats died 1821"
(Autograph MS, notes on Shelley)

10 pages
MS 4to 100:
"The Social Contract, Or, Principles of Right"
(Autograph MS, copy of extracts from a translation of Rousseau)

11 pages
MS 71:
"The Song of Hiawatha by H. W. Longfellow"
(Autograph MS, impressions of
"Hiawatha"
)

1 page
MS 12mo 95:
"Torquato Tasso"
(Autograph MS, biographical sketch of Tasso)

5 pages
Autobiographical Manuscripts
Listed alphabetically by headings.
MS 4to 132:
"24 Feb. 1891 In Notes if convenient"
(Autograph MS, paragraph on his health and publishing, request from Mrs. J. S. Harris for his autograph)

2 pages
MS 4to 130:
"(Elan E. Kelsey)..."
(Autograph MS, notes on Eugene Kelsey, a soldier whom Whitman visited, and on Kelsey's family)

1 page
MS 123:
"How I get around at 60 and take notes (No. 1)"
(Autograph MS, copy for the first of six articles sent by Whitman to the
Critic 1881-1882, published 1881 Jan. 29)

22 pages
MS 113:
"In the Revolution,..."
(Autograph MS, notes on Whitman's grandfather Kell Van Velsor and his Grandmother Whitman during the Revolutionary War)

1 page
MS 120:
"Isaac Joseph Stephen Jesse (my grandfather)..."
(Autograph MSS, notes on various relatives, especially his grandmother Hannah Brush and great aunt Mrs. Sarah Mead)

6 pages
MS 122:
"June 2, '74"
(Autograph MS, notes on Dr. Matthew Grier's opinion of Whitman's health)

9 pages
II-7 197:
"July 31st 1852 - Mr. Scofield owes W.W. ..."
(Autograph MS, memoranda written by Whitman when employed as a contractor)

1 page
MS 2o 128:
"Mother's family lived..."
(Autograph MS, notes on Whitman's mother's family, 1850)

1 page
MS 2o 133:
"My house and lot 328 Mickle street Camden New Jersey"
(Autograph MS, draft portion of Whitman's will)

2 pages
MS 12mo 104:
"Nov. 23rd. 62 Portland av. Jesse Whitman..."
(Autograph MS, notes on uncles and his father as contractor)

4 pages, including one image
MS 2o 131:
"Nov. 26 1880 R Worthington..."
(Autograph MS, notes on pirated edition of
Leaves of Grass )

2 pages
MS 121:
"Specimen Days"
(Autograph MS, notes on his parents)

2 pages
MS 2o 129:
"Walter Whitman married..."
(Autograph MS, notes toward a family genealogy and portion of a diary of Whitman's trip from New Orleans)

2 pages
Cf. Richard Maurice Bucke's Biography of Whitman Subseries.
Whitman on His Own Writings
Listed alphabetically by headings.
MS 12mo 116:
"[Three Autograph MSS]"
(Notes on nature, a comment on
Specimen Days )

3 pages
MS 4to 110:
"'81 'Leaves of Grass' finished"
(Autograph MS, diary writing on preparation of the 1881-1882 edition for publication)

4 pages
MS 4to 109:
"All others have adhered to the principle..."
(Autograph MS, notes on democracy, poetry)

1 page
MS 108:
"And so I have put those completed poems..."
(Autograph MS, draft outline)

2 pages
MS 12mo 127:
"Current Criticism"
(Autograph MS, notes on Burroughs's
Notes on Walt Whitman )

2 pages
MS 124:
"Feb. 25th '57 Dined with Hector Tyndale"
(Autograph MS, notes on criticisms of
Leaves of Grass made by Whitman's friends)

2 pages
MS 12mo 105:
"For criticism L of Grass"
(Autograph MS, notes on
Leaves of Grass )

2 pages
MS 12mo 106:
"For Dr. B's Criticism"
(Autograph MS, notes on
Specimen Days )

2 pages
MS 125:
"Friday April 24, '57. True vista before"
(Autograph MS, notes on education)

1 page
II-7 198:
"Leading Characteristic to unite all sects,..."
(Autograph MS, notes on religious and social unity)

2 pages
MS 4to 204:
"Make the Works"
(Autograph MS, notes on writing)

2 pages
MS 12mo 107:
"May 13 to 26 '81 Down in the Country"
(Autograph MS, diary entry on preparation of the1881-1882 edition of
Leaves of Grass for publication)

2 pages
MS 126:
"My Poems, when complete, should be... "
(Autograph MS, notes on writing poetry)

2 pages
MS 4to 134:
"No I do not choose to write a poem on a lady's sparrow, like Catullus"
(Autograph MS, notes on
Leaves of Grass )

2 pages
MS 114:
"No one of the Themes..."
(Autograph MS, draft portions of an essay on
Leaves of Grass )

10 pages
II-5 135:
"Of William Blake & Walt Whitman"
(Autograph MS, comparison of Blake and himself)

3 pages
MS 4to 206:
"On the other side is the 'barbaric yawp'..."
(Autograph MS, draft portion of essay on the differences between Whitman and other poets)

1 page
MS 115 [display]:
"Other poets have formed..."
(Autograph MS, notes on writing poetry)

2 pages
MS 4to 136:
"Rules for Composition"
(Autograph MS, notes on writing)

1 page
MS 4to 137:
"Sept '81 Copy..."
(Autograph MS, notes on the publication of the 1881-1882 edition of
Leaves of Grass )

4 pages
MS 4to 205:
"Two suggestion points for letter"
(Autograph MS, two passages of self-criticism)

1 page
MS 12mo 116:
"3 Autograph MSS"
(Notes on nature,
Specimen Days )

3 pages
Miscellany
Listed alphabetically by headings.
MS 4to 192:
"The Black (The problem of the black)"
(Autograph MS)

1 page
MS 52:
"Book-learn'g is good..."
(Autograph MS, notes on education)

1 page
MS 96:
"Egypt..."
(Autograph MS, notes on the "development of man" represented by the Egyptians, Hindus, Greeks, Romans, and Hebrews)

3 pages
MS 97:
"Egyptian religion... Greek... Hebrew"
(Autograph MS, notes on ancient Egyptian and Greek religion and Judaism)

1 page
MS 98:
"The English Masses"
(Autograph MS, notes on English people)

6 pages
MS 4to 34:
"His idea of God..."
(Autograph MS, notes on Emerson)

1 page
MS 2o 53:
"I know well enough that man grows up,..."
(Autograph MS, notes on "the nature of man")

2 pages
MS 67:
"In metaphysical points,..."
(Autograph MS, notes on Romantic poetry, education)

1 page
MS 55:
"It is generally believed in Washington..."
(Autograph MS, draft portions of a letter on exchange of Civil War prisoners)

4 pages
MS 4to 203:
"It were unworthy a live man to pray or complain"
(Autograph MS, notes on "whining")

1 page
MS 118:
"London - 1880 Then about drinking habits"
(Autograph MS, notes on Canada made during his trip there)

9 pages
Trent South Wall:
"A main part of The greatness of a humanity"
(Autograph MS, notes on the "evolution of humanity")

1 page
MS 4to 87:
"Of Insanity"
(Autograph MS, notes on insanity)

2 pages
II-5 103:
"[Notes on Africa and Asia] (Frey's title)"
(Autograph MSS, notes on Asia and Africa taken from conversations with travelers and from geography and history books)

7 pages
MS 68:
"[On Poetry] (Frey's heading)"
(Autograph MS, notes on poetry)

5 pages
MS 51:
"Produce great persons..."
(Autograph MS)

4 pages
MS 4to 111:
"The RR we go on (Sep 13 '79) from St Louis..."
(Autograph MS, notes on travels in the U.S. in 1848 and 1879)

12 pages
MS 2o 46:
"Specimen Days Oct 31 '84 Presidential Election"
(Autograph MS, notes for an expanded edition of
Leaves of Grass )

2 pages
MS 4to 112:
"Sunday '79 - Took a slow walk..."
(Autograph MS, notes on New York City)

1 page
MS 4to 35:
"Theological inferences... "
(Autograph MS, notes on the Bible and its importance in poetry)

1 page
MS 119:
"Visit to NY '78 July 3..."
(Autograph MS, notes on view of New York from the top of the
Tribune building)

2 pages
MS 12mo 59:
"Wednesday 4th March..."
(Autograph MS, notes on the adjournment of Congress, 1863, Mar.)

17 pages
MS 4to 88:
"The Whale"
(Autograph MS, notes on whales)

2 pages
MS 4to 70:
"What are inextricable from the British poets are..."
(Autograph MS, notes on British poets)

3 pages
Proofs Subseries, 1874-1891 and undated
Proofs of poems and articles published during Whitman's lifetime, some with autograph annotation by Whitman. The dates provided are taken both from the periodicals that carried corrected versions of the articles and poems in proof and also from autograph annotations to the proofs themselves. A mark of "P" next to a date indicates that the proof in question has been dated according to the periodical in which it appeared; a mark of "A," conversely, indicates that the proof has been dated by annotation. Where possible, the titles of the periodicals that published finalized versions of Whitman's articles and poems have been included. Listed alphabetically by title or periodical.
III-8, Pr. 10:
"A Carol Closing Sixty Nine,"
undated

1 page
III-8, Pr. 1:
"Colonel Ingersoll's Lecture, Liberty and Literature,"
1890 Oct. 21 (A)

2 pages
Includes a clipping from the New York World from 1890 26 Oct. which reports a conversation between Whitman and Ingersoll.
III-8, Pr. 2:
"The Dead Carlyle,"
Boston Literary World, 1881 Feb. 12 (P)

1 page
III-8, Pr. 3:
"The Dead Tenor,"
The Critic, 1884 Nov. 4 (P)

1 page
III-8, Pr. 4:
"Death of a Fireman,"
The New Republic, 1874 Nov. 14 (P)

1 page
III-8, Pr. 5:
"Halcyon Days,"
undated

1 page
Proof copy with corrections, presumably by Whitman
III-8, Pr. 6:
"Have We a National Literature?,"
North American Review, 1891 Mar. (P)

4 pages
III-8, Pr. 7:
"A Memorandum at a Venture,"
North American Review, 1882 June (A)

1 page
I-1:
November Boughs, undated Page proofs, pp. 5-45, preceded by a 4-page review clipped from the
Chicago Daily News, 9 Feb. 1889.

47 pages
I-1:
November Boughs, undated Page proofs, pp. 46-92

45 pages
I-1:
November Boughs, undated Page proofs, pp. 93-140

47 pages
III-8, Pr. 9:
"Of That Blithe Throat of Thine,"
Harper's, 1885 Jan. (P)

1 page
Cf. Books and Periodicals Containing Contributions by Whitman Subseries .
III-8, Pr. 10:
"Old Age's Lambent Peaks,"
undated

1 page
III-8, Pr. 11:
"Patroling Barnegat,"
1880 June 3 (A)

1 page