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
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.
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