Collection Summary
Walt Whitman Papers
1837-1957
1840-1891
1837-1957
(bulk 1840-1891)
MSS77909
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892
150 items
2 containers plus 2 oversize
1.2 linear feet
2 microfilm reels
English
Collection material in English
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Poet. Correspondence, family papers,
holograph drafts of Whitman's poetry and prose, printed matter, and miscellany. Includes
a printed copy of O Captain! My Captain! with
Whitman's handwritten corrections and letters exchanged with Abraham Leech, Whitman's
earliest known correspondence.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Diggins, E. F. E.F. Diggins plaster bust of Walt Whitman. 1939.
Furness, Clifton Joseph, 1898-1946. Clifton Joseph Furness notebook. 1941.
Heyde, Hannah Louisa Whitman, 1823-1908--Correspondence.
Leech family--Genealogy.
Leech, Abraham. Abraham Leech correspondence and diary. 1837-circa 1881.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Death and burial.
Nuccio, Mark. To the Man of War Bird. 1983.
Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862.
Whitman family.
Whitman, Louisa Van Velsor, 1795-1873--Correspondence.
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892--Statues.
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892.
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Bible as poetry : proof sheet with additions and corrections by the author. circa 1888.
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. O captain! My captain! : reprint with comments by the author. 1888 February 9.
Organizations
Democratic Party (U.S.)
Subjects
American literature.
American poetry.
American prose literature.
Busts.
City and town life.
Education--New York (State)--Long Island.
Poetry.
Presidents--United States--Election--1840.
Sculpture.
Places
Long Island (N.Y.)--Social life and customs.
United States--Politics and government--1815-1861.
Titles
Walt Whitman Papers (Miscellaneous Manuscript Collection) at the Library of Congress
Occupations
Poets.
Acquisition Information
The papers of Walt Whitman were acquired by the Library of Congress through
gift, transfer, and purchase, 1927-2019. The collection contains items described in
the Library's publication
Walt Whitman: A Catalog Based upon the Collections of
the Library of Congress
(Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress,
1955), as well as more recent acquisitions unrelated to other collections
of Whitman's papers in the Library.
Processing History
The papers of Walt Whitman were processed in 1981 by Michael McElderry. The finding aid was revised and expanded in 1997 by Michael McElderry.
Additional material received 1997-2001 was processed in 2003 by Michael McElderry. Material received
2012-2019 was interfiled in the collection by Nan Thompson Ernst, Kathleen O'Neill,
and Laney Stevenson.
Additional Description
The Library's publication
Walt Whitman: A Catalog Based upon the Collections of the
Library of Congress
(Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1955) includes items
from the collection.
Copyright Status
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Walt Whitman
is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Access and Restrictions
The papers of Walt Whitman are open to research. Researchers are
advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many
collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these
items for research use.
Microfilm
A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on two reels.
Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for
purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals,
researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition as available.
Online Content
Part of the papers of Walt Whitman is available on the Library of Congress website at
[
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000040]. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the online edition as available.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container or reel number, Walt Whitman Papers,
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
Date
Event
1819, May 31
Born, West Hills, N.Y.
1830
1846
Held various jobs as office boy, schoolteacher, typesetter,
and journalist chiefly in Long Island and Brooklyn, N.Y.
1839
1840
Writer and typesetter,
Long Island Democrat
1841
1848
Associated with numerous newspapers and magazines, including
the New York
Aurora
and the New York
Evening Tattler
1846
1848
Editor,
Brooklyn Eagle
1848
Writer,
New Orleans Crescent
Editor,
Brooklyn Freeman
1855
Published
Leaves of Grass (Brooklyn, N.Y.: n.p. 95 pp.). Enlarged and revised in
succeeding editions of 1856, 1860-1861, 1867, 1871, 1876, 1881-1882, 1888-1889,
and 1891-1892
1857
1859
Editor,
Brooklyn Times
1862
1865
Served as hospital volunteer, Washington, D.C.
1865
Published
Drum Taps (New York: n.p. 72 pp.)
Clerk, Department of Interior, Washington, D.C.
1865
1873
Clerk, Office of the Attorney General, Washington,
D.C.
1871
Published
Democratic Vistas (Washington, D.C.: n.p. [Printed by J. S. Redfield, New York]. 84
pp.)
Published
Passage to India (Washington, D.C.: n.p. [Printed by J. S. Redfield, New York]. 120
pp.)
Published
After All, Not to Create Only (Boston: Roberts Brothers. 24 pp.)
1872
Published
As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free (Washington, D.C.: n.p. [Printed by S. W. Green, New York]. 14
pp.)
1873
Suffered paralytic stroke
1875
1876
Published
Memoranda During the War (Camden, N.J.: n.p. 68 pp.)
1876
Published
Two Rivulets (Camden, N.J.: n.p. 32 pp.)
1882
1883
Published
Specimen Days and Collect (Philadelphia: David McKay. 376 pp.)
1888
Published
November Boughs (Philadelphia: David McKay. 140 pp.)
1891
Published
Good-Bye My Fancy (Philadelphia: David McKay. 66 pp.)
1892, Mar. 26
Died, Camden, N.J.
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Walt Whitman (1819-1892) span the years 1837-1957 with the bulk
concentrated in the period 1840-1891. Included are examples of the poet's original
correspondence and literary manuscripts, photocopies and transcripts of similar Whitman
material, and printed matter and miscellaneous items relating to Whitman. Although the
collection contains only a small sampling of the types of items found in the Library's
larger collections of Whitman material, most notably those of Thomas Biggs Harned and
Charles E. Feinberg, it includes Whitman's correspondence with Abraham P. Leech and a
printed copy of Whitman's poem
O Captain! My Captain!
containing the poet's handwritten corrections. A small selection of family
correspondence, including Whitman's mother, Louisa Van Velsor Whitman, and his sister,
Hannah Louisa Whitman Heyde describing domestic routines and expressing personal
sentiments, is also included.
Whitman's letters to Abraham Leech, 1840-1841, the poet's earliest
known correspondence, describe his life as a schoolteacher in the towns of
Woodbury and Whitestone, Long Island, New York. The letters relate his distaste
as a young man for teaching at Woodbury and portray his general dislike for
small-town life at that time. Whitman also expressed his support for the
Democratic party and its candidate for the 1840 presidential election, Martin
Van Buren, despite Leech's adherence to the Whig party candidate, William Henry
Harrison. The file also contains copies of letters from Leech to Whitman,
genealogical notes of the Leech family, a small diary kept by Abraham Leech,
1838-1844, and other miscellaneous fragments and items.
O Captain! My Captain!
, considered by many to be
Whitman's most popular poem, was widely anthologized during his lifetime. The collection
contains a copy of the poem formerly described as a proof sheet in the Library's
publication
Walt Whitman: A Catalog Based upon the
Collections of the Library of Congress
. It is instead a printed page torn
from volume thirty-two of the Riverside Literature Series, corrected in Whitman's hand,
and returned to Riverside Press. A short letter to the printer remarking on the errors
and noting Whitman's accompanying corrections is included on the verso of the page.
Many of the items in the collection are identified in the catalog,
which contains an annotated bibliographic listing of Whitman items located
within the collections of various divisions in the Library of Congress.
Identification numbers tagged to specific entries in the catalog are noted on
the folders containing those items. This catalog should be consulted for the
fullest description of the material.
A microfilm edition of original Whitman materials at other repositories compiled by Roy
Basler in 1962, and a plaster bust donated to the Library's poetry office by sculptor E.
F. Diggins were added to the collection in 2012. A fragment of prose, "Idea of Piece
[Peace] in a Storm," and a photograph of Whitman were interfiled in the collection in
2013. A letter concerning printing expenses for the 1867 edition of
Leaves of
Grass
, a proof sheet with Whitman's additions and corrections for "The Bible
as Poetry," from
November Boughs
, and an original woodblock print
inspired by Whitman's poetry by the
artist Mark Nuccio were interfiled in the
collection in 2020.
Arrangement of the Papers
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Container List
Box
Contents
OV 1
Artwork
OV 1
Plaster bust of Walt Whitman by E. F. Diggins,
1939
1939
Digital content available
OV 2
Woodblock print, To the Man of War Bird by
Mark Nuccio, 1983, Jan. 27
1983, Jan. 27
No digital content available
1
Correspondence
1
General, 1852,
1863,
1871-1872,
1882,
1888-1891
1852,
1863,
1871-1872,
1882,
1888-1891
Digital content available
1
General, 1866
1866
No digital content available
1
Leech, Abraham P., 1837-1844,
circa 1881,
undated
1837-1844,
circa 1881,
undated
Digital content available
1
Family papers
1
Whitman, Louisa Van Velsor (mother),
1872-1873
1872-1873
Digital content available
1
Whitman family letters, 1848,
1863,
1870-1873,
1889-1891,
undated
1848,
1863,
1870-1873,
1889-1891,
undated
Digital content available
1
Literary file
1
Poetry
1
Ah Poverties, Wincings, and Sulky
Retreats,
broadside, undated
undated
Digital content available
1
"Death of General Grant," signed draft,
1885
1885
Digital content available
1
"Funeral Interpolations," signed draft,
circa 1888
circa 1888
Digital content available
1
O Captain! My Captain!
printed copy with
corrections, 1888
1888
Digital content available
1
Prose
1
"American National Literature," draft,
circa 1891
circa 1891
Digital content available
1
American poets, draft,
undated
undated
Digital content available
1
"As to nationality in our literature," draft
(first line), undated
undated
Digital content available
1
"The Bible as Poetry," proof sheet with additions and corrections, circa 1888
circa 1888
No digital content available
1
"A Gap now of over a Year," draft,
undated
undated
Digital content available
1
"The great themes of the literatus," draft
(first line), undated
undated
Digital content available
1
"Idea of Piece [Peace] in a Storm," fragment,
circa 1865
circa 1865
Digital content available
1
"An Indian Bureau Reminiscence," signed
draft, circa 1883
circa 1883
Digital content available
1
Modesty, draft,
undated
undated
Digital content available
1
Miscellany
1
Chronological file, 1881-1885,
1896-1899,
1912-1917,
1929-1931,
1940,
1955-1957, undated
1881-1885,
1896-1899,
1912-1917,
1929-1931,
1940,
1955-1957, undated
Digital content available
1
Romanian Institute for Cultural Relations with
Foreign Countries, exhibit, 1956
1956
Digital content available
1
Photograph of Whitman by Frank Pearsall, copy,
1869
1869
Digital content available
1
Printed matter
1
1870,
1887
1870,
1887
Digital content available
2
1892-1915
1892-1915
Digital content available
2
1935-1939,
1954
1935-1939,
1954
Digital content available
2
Reproductions
2
Photocopies
2
Burroughs, John, "Work and Wait,"
1856
1856
Digital content available
2
Correspondence, 1880-1881,
undated
1880-1881,
undated
Digital content available
2
Diary notes,
undated
undated
Digital content available
2
1
Furness, Clifton Joseph, notebook,
1940
1940
Digital content available
Available on microfilm. Shelf no. 11,058
2
Interior Department, dismissal from,
1865
1865
Digital content available
2
National Archives and Records Administration,
records, 1864-1874
1864-1874
Digital content available
2
Poetry and prose, 1861, undated
1861, undated
Digital content available
2
2
Microfilm of originals at other repositories,
compiled by Roy Basler, 1962
1962
Digital content available
Shelf no. 12,608
2
Transcripts
2
Correspondence,
1876
1876
Digital content available
2
Poetry and prose,
undated
undated
Digital content available