Leaves of grass by Whitman, Walt - 1860-01-01

Thayer and Eldridge. 1860-61, 1860-01-01. Third edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Third edition. Stated 1860-61 printing, but later. Bound in publisher's deep-purplish cloth. Good binding and cover. BAL binding state C. Beveled edges. Spine cloth slightly lightened. Myerson's Binding A. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Whitman (unsigned by S.A. Schoff), calligraphic title. 456pp. Early gift inscription from William Milligan to his brother Robert E. Milligan. Internally clean. <br><br> "Always the champion of the common man, Whitman is both the poet and prophet of democracy. The whole of Leaves of Grass is imbued with the spirit of brotherhood and a pride in the democracy of the young American nation. In a sense, it is America's second Declaration of Independence: that of 1776 was political, that of 1855 intellectual." (PMM). Walt Whitman archive: "The significance of the 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass tends to be paradoxical. Although the poems often express grief over romantic and professional failures, the book's new sense of structure, the sizable increase in poems, its wider readership and critical praise made it one of Whitman's most successful books. Although the poems seem more intimate and personal than previous Whitman poems, the third edition is also a deliberate intervention into public life, an attempt to realize American democratic ideals and save the Union.