As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free, and Other Poems (Leaves of Grass)

Washington DC: [The Author], 1872.

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Hardcover. First edition. A little rubbed, else a sharp, near fine copy. A collection of poetry described by Whitman (who wrote most of his own publicity and, occasionally, reviews of his own books – leaving nothing to chance as it were) as: "...the poems of the author's elder age – are the surplusage of *Leaves of Grass* – the wake following that volume, as the eddies behind a ship." The title poem was delivered at the Dartmouth College commencement. This is a presentation copy, Inscribed by the author: "Lilla Gosling from Walt Whitman." Gosling was a nurse whom Whitman met in Canada in June, 1880 through his friend and eventual literary co-executor R.M. Bucke (see William White's edition of Whitman's *Daybooks and Notebooks*). She was the daughter of Thomas and Anne Willson Miller of Niagara/Buffalo and latterly of Owen Sound, Ontario. In 1875 Lilla married Frank Gosling, a banker, in London, Middlesex, Ontario. Richard Bucke, the dear friend of Whitman, was a physician in London, Middlesex. It is of some interest that he signed the book with his full name rather than as "the Author" as was often the case. A particularly nice copy. *BAL* 21408.

Item #36880

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Item #36880 As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free, and Other Poems (Leaves of Grass). Walt WHITMAN.
As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free, and Other Poems (Leaves of Grass)
As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free, and Other Poems (Leaves of Grass)
As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free, and Other Poems (Leaves of Grass)
As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free, and Other Poems (Leaves of Grass)
As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free, and Other Poems (Leaves of Grass)
As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free, and Other Poems (Leaves of Grass)
As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free, and Other Poems (Leaves of Grass)

Walt Whitman
birth name: Walter Whitman
born: 5/31/1819
died: 3/26/1892
nationality: USA

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Biography

American journalist, essayist, and poet whose style of writing in such works as Leaves of Grass (first edition, 1855) revolutionized American literature. Such poems as "I Sing the Body Electric" and "Song of Myself" asserted the beauty of the human body, physical health, and sexuality. - Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literaturemore

Collecting tips:

Whitman may well be the great American poet. Because he published so much of his own work, his bibliography can be complicated and detailed. Leaves of Grass (first edition, 1855 - but which he continued to expand upon for most of the rest of his life) exists in two states, and at least three bindings, but suffice it to say that any copy dated in 1855 is desirable, and will be commensurately expensive.more