Looking for the best Walt Whitman books? Browse our list to find excellent book recommendations on the subject.
- The Complete Poems (Penguin Classics) (2005)
- Complete Poems of Whitman (Wordsworth Poetry Library) (Wordsworth Collection) (1998)
- Leaves of Grass: The Original 1855 Edition (2009)
- Leaves Of Grass: 1855 (2018)
- The Portable Walt Whitman (Penguin Classics) (2003)
- Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (1967)
- Leaves of Grass (1986)
- Song of Myself: The First and Final Editions of the Great American Poem (2013)
- Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography (1996)
- Leaves of Grass: The Complete Deathbed Edition (2012)
The Complete Poems (Penguin Classics) (2005)
In 1855 Walt Whitman published Leaves of Grass, the work that defined him as one of America’s most influential voices and that he added to throughout his life. A collection of astonishing originality and intensity, it spoke of politics, sexual emancipation, and what it meant to be an American.
Complete Poems of Whitman (Wordsworth Poetry Library) (Wordsworth Collection) (1998)
Walt Whitman’s verse gave the poetry of America a distinctive national voice. It reflects the unique vitality of the new nation, the vastness of the land and the emergence of a sometimes troubled consciousness, communicated in language and idiom regarded by many at the time as shocking.
Leaves of Grass: The Original 1855 Edition (2009)
When Walt Whitman self-published in 1855, he rocked the literary world and forever changed the course of poetry.
Leaves Of Grass: 1855 (2018)
This is a copy of the first self-published copy of Leaves of Grass, published on July 4, 1855 in Brooklyn, NY. 795 copies were printed, although only 200 copies were bound with the green cover.The author’s name did not appear on the cover, although it does appear in the poem on page 31 in this edition. Walt Whitman continued to work on this masterwork until his death. Six more versions appeared during his lifetime, and after his death a “death-bed” version appeared.
The Portable Walt Whitman (Penguin Classics) (2003)
When Walt Whitman self-published Leaves of Grass in 1855 it was a slim volume of twelve poems and he was a journalist and poet from Long Island, little-known but full of ambition and poetic fire.
Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (1967)
Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass: The First (1855) Edition. Edited, with an Introduction by Malcolm Cowley. Publisher: The Viking Press, 1967. 145 pages.
Leaves of Grass (1986)
paperback
Song of Myself: The First and Final Editions of the Great American Poem (2013)
This book compiles both the first (1855) and final (1892) versions of Walt Whitman's masterpiece, "Song of Myself," in one volume, allowing readers to see how Whitman developed the poem over time. (Applies to the American Renaissance Books edition only.)
Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography (1996)
Winner of the Bancroft Prize and the Ambassador Book Award and Finalist for the National for the Book Critics Circle Award In his poetry Walt Whitman set out to encompass all of America and in so doing heal its deepening divisions.
Leaves of Grass: The Complete Deathbed Edition (2012)
Leaves of Grass is Walt Whitman’s greatest poetry collection. Originally published in 1855, Whitman revised this collection several times during his life. This book contains Whitman’s Leaves of Grass "Deathbed Edition" which was published in 1892, the year of his death. This "Deathbed Edition" contains Whitman’s last revisions to his masterpiece.
Best Walt Whitman Books: The Ultimate List
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Song of Ourselves: Walt Whitman and the Fight for Democracy
Author(s): Mark Edmundson
ID: 3037327, Publisher: Harvard University Press, Year: 2021, Size: 2 Mb, Format: epub
Walt Whitman and His Caribbean Interlocutors: José Martí, C.L.R. James, and Pedro Mir Song and Countersong
Author(s): Rafael Bernabe
ID: 3110066, Publisher: BRILL, Year: 2021, Size: 1 Mb, Format: pdf
Walt Whitman's Diary in Canada - With Extracts from Other of His Diaries and Literary Note-Books
Author(s): Walt Whitman, William Sloane Kennedy
ID: 3514555, Publisher: Read Books Ltd., Year: 2021, Size: 175 Kb, Format: epub
Please note that this booklist is not absolute. Some books are really best-sellers according to Washington Post, others are drafted by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant books you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.