Acquisition:	Much of the collection was acquired in the mid-1950s as part of the T. E. Hanley Library and supplemented by the 1959 purchase of the John G. Moore Collection and later acquisitions of individual items. Also included are numerous page proofs acquired with the Charles E. Feinberg Collection.
	Processed by:	Stephen Mielke, 2003

Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

	Born May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island, Walt Whitman spent his early life working variously as an office boy, school teacher, compositor, reporter, and editor. Growing up in Brooklyn, he received only six years of formal education and took his first job at age 11. He was 21 before his first success as a writer, and between 1843 and 1846 wrote articles for several New York City papers. He become editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1846, but was fired after two years over political differences with the owner.
	In 1848 Whitman spent three months working at the New Orleans Daily Crescent, then returned to New York to edit the Brooklyn Daily Freeman for one year. From 1849 to 1855 he lived with his parents in Brooklyn, writing occasional pieces for area papers and working briefly as a carpenter. Throughout this period he read numerous literary and social works and maintained notebooks of his own writings. These formed the basis of his first edition of poetry, Leaves of Grass, published in 1855. It received mixed reviews and limited sales, and Whitman continued his newspaper writing and editing while he reworked and expanded the book.
	In 1862 Whitman's brother was wounded at Fredericksburg and Whitman traveled to his aid. Finding him with minor wounds, Whitman settled in Washington, DC, where he tended wounded soldiers and worked for the army paymaster. In 1864 he took a position at the Interior Department, and in 1865 published Drum Taps, a collection of Civil War inspired poems.
	Whitman lost his job in 1865, but was soon offered work by the U. S. Attorney General. New editions of Leaves of Grass appeared in 1866, 1867, and 1871. He also published Democratic Vistas and Passage to India in 1871, but his good fortune did not last and in 1873 he suffered a debilitating stroke followed closely by the death of his mother. By 1874 he had lost his job at the Attorney General's office and was living in Camden, New Jersey, again writing for New York area papers.
	Whitman published a reprint of Leaves of Grass in 1876 and continued convalescing and receiving guests at his home. An 1881 edition of Leaves of Grass was declared "obscene" by the Boston District Attorney, but the notoriety caused such demand that the book was reprinted in 1883, 1884, and 1888. Whitman suffered a second stroke in 1888 and his health continued to deteriorate. He died soon after an 1892 printing of Leaves of Grass, which he determined was finally "complete."

	Scope and Contents
		Handwritten manuscripts, fragments, notes, proofs, galleys, clippings, monographs, correspondence, drawings, photographs, and memorabilia document the life and work of Walt Whitman and include information about Whitman created and collected by several of his early admirers and devotees. The collection is organized into four series: I. Works, 1846-1913, undated (2 boxes), II. Correspondence, 1863-1892, undated (1 box), III. Works and Correspondence by Others, 1863-1956, undated (3 boxes), and IV. Images and Checks, 1875-1887, undated (1 folder)
		The earliest dated material consists of tearsheets of "The Tomb-Blossoms," published in 1846 in The United States Magazine and Democratic. The bulk of the materials dated after Whitman's death in 1892 originated with Whitman's friend and biographer Horace Traubel; Whitman Society President Gustave Percival Wiksell; Whitman scholars Richard M. Bucke and Milton Hindus; and the poet William Douglas O'Connor. In addition to Whitman's original manuscripts, a draft fragment in the hand of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "VIII | O subtle, various world…," is bound with correspondence between Whitman and Tennyson and manuscript material for Leaves of Grass  "Sands at Seventy: To Get the Final Lilt of Songs."
		Many of the manuscripts and letters are in fragile condition and access to individual items may be limited while they undergo conservation treatment. All Whitman items are handwritten unless otherwise indicated. Additional Whitman material is located in the Ransom Center's vertical files, art collection, photography collection, and personal effects.
	Series Descriptions
		Series I. Works, 1846-1913, undated
		Works are arranged alphabetically by title or first line. Many of the poems included in Leaves of Grass are listed alphabetically under that title. The bulk of the materials are handwritten manuscripts, fragments, and notes. Six unidentified fragments may include writing by someone other than Whitman, possibly Horace Traubel.
		Other materials in the series include one-page printed proofs of individual poems, clippings of published articles, and galley proofs. Of note is an 1876 edition of Leaves of Grass in paper wrappers with numerous handwritten additions and corrections by Whitman. Other major works represented include Democratic Vistas, "O Captain My Captain,"  Specimen Days & Collect, and Two Rivulets.
		Some works have correspondence or other works glued or written on the verso. Cross references are provided in the folder list. Two headings: "Works I" and "Miscellaneous I," list individual works bound or grouped together previous to their acquisition by the Ransom Center. These works have been kept together physically, but the titles of individual works are listed in the appropriate alphabetical sequence in the folder list. "Miscellaneous I" also contains several items about Whitman, similar to materials found in Series III. Works and Correspondence by Others.
		Series II. Correspondence, 1863-1892, undated
		Whitman's correspondence is divided into two subseries, outgoing and incoming, both arranged alphabetically. Outgoing correspondence consists primarily of handwritten letters. Also present are postcards and facsimiles of handwritten letters. Of note among letters to James Osgood is a list of changes demanded in Leaves of Grass by Boston District Attorney Oliver Stevens. One letter to Whitman's sister and several to his mother are also found in the outgoing correspondence.
		Incoming correspondence includes a Civil War era pass issued to Whitman by the US Army, a typed transcription of a letter from Ralph Waldo Emerson, and letters from Whitman's brother George and sister Hannah. The greatest number of letters come from Whitman's mother and include numerous originals as well as typed transcriptions.
		Outgoing and incoming letters between Whitman and Alfred, Lord Tennyson are bound with materials for Whitman's work Leaves of Grass  "Sands at Seventy: To Get the Final Lilt of Songs" and "Good-bye My Fancy: Sail out for Good, Eidólon Yacht" in Series I. Also located in Series I are one outgoing and one incoming letter located with the "Works I" bound materials.
		Series III. Works and Correspondence by Others, 1863-1965, undated
		The largest of the three series consists primarily of correspondence about Whitman written to Gustave Percival Wiksell. Wiksell was president of the Boston chapter of the Whitman Fellowship founded by Whitman friend and biographer Horace Traubel. The correspondence and other Whitman materials collected by Wiksell were later acquired and added to by fellow Whitman collector John G. Moore, providing the bulk of the materials in this series. Arrangement is alphabetical, generally by name of correspondent or author, but with some topical headings, such as "Julius Rosenwald Essay Contest." Also present is a lock of Whitman's hair sent by Whitman's housekeeper and friend Mary O. Davis to Thomas C. Donaldson, and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, dating from the 1880s, about Whitman and the Civil War.
		Notable among the Wiksell correspondents are Louis Brandeis, George Washington Carver, Calvin Coolidge, Charles Coughlin, Eugene Debs, Alf Landon, and William Douglas O'Connor. Correspondence to Whitman scholar Milton Hindus includes letters from Dorothy Pound and William Carlos Williams.
		In addition to Wiksell and Hindus, other Whitman scholars and admirers represented in the series include Leon Bazalgette, John Burroughs, Richard M. Bucke, John G. Moore, William Douglas O'Connor, and Horace Traubel.
		Series IV. Images and Checks, 1875-1887, undated
		The smallest series in the collection contains one folder of clippings, etchings, engravings, and photocopies of Whitman images. Also included are three checks written by Whitman.

Additional Whitman material is located in the Ransom Center's vertical files, art collection, photography collection, and personal effects.

Bound monographs by Whitman have been cataloged separately and can be accessed through the University of Texas at Austin Library's online catalog.

	People
		Brandeis, Louis Dembitz, 1856-1941.
		Bucke, Richard Maurice, 1837-1902.
		Burroughs, John, 1837-1921.
		Carver, George Washington, 1864?-1943.
		Coughlin, Charles E. (Charles Edward), 1891-1979.
		Debs, Eugene V. (Eugene Victor), 1855-1926.
		Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882.
		Feinberg, Charles E., 1899-
		Forman, H. Buxton (Harry Buxton), 1842-1917.
		Hanley, T. Edward.
		Hindus, Milton.
		Kennedy, William Sloane, 1850-1929.
		Landon, Alfred M. (Alfred Mossman), 1887-1987.
		Moore, John G.
		O'Connor, William Douglas, 1832-1889.
		Pound, Dorothy.
		Rossetti, William Michael, 1829-1919.
		Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892.
		Traubel, Horace, 1858-1919.
		Whitman, George Washington, 1829-1901.
		Whitman, Louisa Orr Haslam.
		Whitman, Louisa Van Velsor, 1795-1873.
		Wiksell, Gustave Percival.
		Williams, William Carlos, 1883-1963.
	Subjects
		Whitman family.
		American poetry -- 19th century.
	Document Types
		Broadsides.
		Drawings.
		Galley proofs.
		Photographs.
		Postcards.