With his ‘Leaves of Grass’, Walt Whitman wrote a work of the century that helped to establish a typically American form of literature and even left its mark on European poetry. Whitman subjected his ‘Leaves of Grass’ to lifelong revision and additions, but many ideas did not even make it past the draft stage or exist only as keywords. Nevertheless, they are part of the overall picture of a work in progress. Roberta Harms and Jürgen Brôcan have therefore selected the most interesting of these never fully developed roots and buds from the estate, supplemented by comments on the ‘Leaves of Grass’ in the late conversations with Whitman's confidant Horace Traubel. They impressively demonstrate the intellectual range of one of the most important American poets of the 19th century.

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Authors: Roberta Harms

Jürgen Brôcan