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Finding Aid for Walt Whitman papers, 1854-1892.
Inventory to the Walt Whitman Collection, 1859-1891
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street
New York, NY 10018-2788
(212) 930-0802
brgref@nypl.org
http://nypl.org/research/chss/spe/brg/berg.html
- Processed by:
- Sarah Dickson; John Gordan, primarily 1941. Inventory created by Diana Burnham, 2000.
- Date Completed:
- 2000
- Encoded By:
- Terry Catapano
©2000 The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
- Descriptive Summary
- Biography
- Scope and Content Note
- Summary
-
Series Descriptions
- Series I, Manuscripts, Arranged Alphabetically
- Series II, Manuscripts relating to Whitman, Arranged Alphabetically
- Series III, Outgoing correspondence, Arranged Alphabetically by Recipient
- Series IV Incoming Correspondence, Arranged Alphabetically by Author
- Series V, Correspondence Relating to Whitman, Arranged Alphabetically
- Series VI, Portraits
Descriptive Summary
The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Administrative Information
Provenance
Most of the Whitman material in the Berg was acquired by W. T. H. Howe of Cincinnati, the president of the American Book Company, who purchased it from the Harvard professor and Atlantic Monthly editor Bliss Perry (1860-1954). Perry also authored the first scholarly biography of Whitman. He undertook the project at the request of the Houghton Miflin publishing firm, after John Burroughs (1837-1921), the American naturalist and friend of Whitman, withdrew from his contract. Burroughs then gave Perry much of the research material he had collected. Presumably it was this material that Howe acquired. The Howe collection was purchased by Albert A. Berg following Howe's death in 1940 and was donated to the Berg Collection in the same year. Other Whitman items in the Berg come from the donated collections of the Berg brothers and the partly purchased, partly donated, collection of Owen D. Young (1941), Chairman of the Board of the General Electric Company..
Access
Access to the collection is restricted to qualified scholars and researchers through the Office of Special Collections, Room 316.
Electronic Access to Individual Items
A selection of Berg manuscript items is available through Major Authors Online: Walt Whitman, an electronic resource available in Room 316 of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library (Fifth Avenue & 42nd Street). Items from the Berg Collection are listed below.
- Whitman, Walt. As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free.
- Whitman, Walt. The Dead Emperor.
- Whitman, Walt. A Death-Sonnet for Custer.
- Whitman, Walt. Go, said his Soul to a Poet.
- Whitman, Walt. I Saw in Louisiana a Live Oak Growing.
- Whitman, Walt. Song of the Universal.
- Whitman, Walt. To Those Who've Fail'd.
- Whitman, Walt. Warble for Lilac-Time.
- Whitman, Walt. Whitman's Advertisement Regarding A Child's Reminiscence.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library
Requests for reproduction and/or permission to quote must be made in writing to the Curator and be accompanied by Estate permission.
Biography
Walt Whitman was born May 31, 1819 on Long Island, one of seven children, and died March 26, 1892 in Camden, New Jersey. His family moved to Brooklyn when he was four years old. When he was thirteen he began work at the liberal Long Island Patriot, the beginning of his long involvement with journalism that included founding and running his own paper. Later in life, he worked as a teacher, a printer, a government clerk, and as a volunteer nurse to sick and wounded Civil War soldiers.
1842Published a commissioned temperance novel in the November 23 supplement to the New World, entitled Franklin Evans; or the Inebriate . NYPL is one of only four institutions known to have the supplement.1855First edition of Leaves of Grass published to mixed reviews.1855Father died. Whitman assumed responsibility for his family.1856Second edition of Leaves of Grass brought out.1860Third edition of Leaves of Grass was published.1862-1864Whitman traveled to Fredericksburg, Virginia, in search of his brother George who had been listed among the soldiers wounded there. During the five days of his successful search for his brother, he became so overwhelmed by the suffering he saw that he remained, visiting and caring for sick and wounded soldiers as an unofficial nurse in Washington, D.C. and on the front. Supporting himself with a job at the Army Paymaster's Office, Whitman nursed wounded soldiers after work. In addition to volunteering his time, he collected money to augment his personal contributions for the purchase of fruit, biscuits, tobacco, milk, paper and stamps for the soldiers. Finally in 1865, he was forced to give up nursing because of his own ill health. 1865Early in the year, Whitman's friend William O'Connor helped him obtain a position at the Office of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior. When, on June 30, 1865, the Secretary of the Interior James Harlan discovered a heavily revised edition of Leaves of Grass in his desk, he fired Whitman. (This copy, known as the "Blue Book" because of the color of its cover, can be found in the Oscar Lion Collection, Manuscripts Division, The New York Public Library.) A former Methodist minister, Harlan found a number of passages indecent and felt they advocated free love. William O'Connor came to Whitman's defense and managed to have him transferred to the Attorney General's office. O'Connor then wrote The Good Gray Poet, a pamphlet that defended Whitman against Harlan's accusations of indecency. He wished to speed Whitman's acceptance by the general public, which in many ways he did. The sobriquet “Good Gray Poet” stuck.1865 Drum-Taps was published in the summer.1865In October Drum-Taps was republished as Sequel to Drum-Taps, bound with an additional twenty-four pages which included poems in memory of Abraham Lincoln who had been assassinated on April 14, 1865. 1867Whitman published Democracy and a fourth edition of Leaves of Grass . 1868English edition of Leaves of Grass is published, edited by William Rossetti and entitled Poems of Walt Whitman . It received warm reviews, including Algernon Charles Swinburne's praise which likened Whitman to William Blake. Alfred, Lord Tennyson began to correspond with him, and Anne Gilchrist, the widow of the Blake biographer Alexander Gilchrist, proposed marriage. 1871Fifth edition of Leaves of Grass published. Democratic Vistas and Passage to India, two new works, also published.1873Whitman suffered a serious stroke that resulted in lameness and general weakness. Only a few months earlier his mother had died, an experience he described as the "great dark cloud of my life." Unable to work after the stroke, he went to Camden, N.J., to live with his brother and sister-in-law while he recovered (a process which took years), moving into the room in which his mother had died. Magnifying the period's bleakness for him was a dispute with William O'Connor that caused their estrangement.1875Now able to move around more easily, he spent long periods visiting nearby friends.1875On November 17, Whitman attended the reburial of Edgar Allan Poe and the dedication of a Poe monument in Baltimore. He was the only literary figure to attend. 1876 Democratic Vistas was reissued with additional poems under the title Two Rivulets . 1879Whitman's health improved enough to allow him to lecture and travel more broadly.1881Sixth edition of Leaves of Grass published in November in Boston, MA. 1882 Leaves of Grass is banned in April. When Whitman refused to make required changes, Osgood & Company halted publication. By June, Whitman had entered into an agreement with another company, Rees Welsh & Company in Philadelphia, and the book was released in 1882. Because of the scandal, the reissue sold well. 1882Rees Welsh also published Specimen Days and Collect .1883Dr. Bucke, a Canadian physician and alienist, as well as a friend of Whitman's, published the first biography of Whitman. (Whitman's in-depth revision of Bucke's Analysis of Poems is now in the Berg Collection.)1884Whitman bought his own house at 328 Mickle Street in Camden, N.J. 1886He began work on November Boughs, another work of prose and poetry, and continued to write short pieces for magazines and newspapers to supplement his income.1888Suffered another stroke in June, this one severe. Because of paralysis he now required a male nurse and a wheelchair for mobility. With Horace Traubel's assistance, however, he was able to complete and publish November Boughs as well as the Complete Poetry & Prose of Walt Whitman, 1855-1888 .1889A large celebration was given in honor of the poet's seventieth birthday. Whitman worked hard throughout his life to attain the literary attention he felt he deserved. By the end of his life he was respected in both the United States and England and his work had been translated into a number of languages. Visitors to his house at Mickle Street included Oscar Wilde, Edmond Gosse, Horace Howard Furness and Joseph Penell. Financial support in his later years came from a varied group that included Edwin Booth, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mark Twain, Henry James and Robert Louis Stevenson.1891Completed and published Good-Bye My Fancy and the final version of Leaves of Grass .1892Walt Whitman died on March 26.Scope and Content Note
The Berg Collection's letters and manuscripts by Walt Whitman cover the years 1859 to 1891 with a small amount of material as yet undated. Strengths of the collection include nearly 30 poems or poem fragments and Whitman's autograph revision of the Analysis of Poems by Dr. R. Bucke. This essay was written for Bucke's authorized biography ( Walt Whitman, 1883) and Whitman's extensive revisions were incorporated before publication. The correspondence includes two longer runs, one to William O' Connor and the other to his wife Ellen O'Connor. The O'Connors were active in a number of social causes, as well as devoted advocates of Whitman and his writing. William O'Connor, author of The Good Gray Poet (1866), was one of Whitman's closest friends until an argument in 1873 caused a break in their friendship.
Others who figure prominently in the Berg Collection's Whitman materials include John Burroughs (1837-1921), nature writer, literary critic, and author of Notes on Walt Whitman as Poet and Person (1867); Peter Doyle and Harry Stafford, young friends of Whitman's; and Richard Maurice Bucke (1837-1902), Whitman's authorized biographer, friend and literary executor. In addition to writing Walt Whitman (1883) and Walt Whitman, Man and Poet (1897), Bucke co-edited with Horace Traubel and Thomas Harned The Complete Writings (1902).
Other Sources
The Oscar Lion Collection in The New York Public Library's Rare Book Division has a significant collection of Walt Whitman manuscripts, books, pamphlets and portraits. Other libraries that house Whitman material include the Annenberg Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Virginia's Alderman Library. The largest collection, including materials assembled by Charles E. Feinberg, is at the Library of Congress.
Summary
- Series I, Manuscripts, Arranged Alphabetically
- Series II, Manuscripts relating to Whitman, Arranged Alphabetically
- Series III, Outgoing correspondence, Arranged Alphabetically by Recipient
- Series IV Incoming correspondence, Arranged Alphabetically by author
- Series V, Correspondence relating to Whitman, Arranged Alphabetically
- Series VI, Portraits
Series Descriptions
Written for the English edition. Came with his ALS to Ernest Rhys, dated March 15, 1887.
This draft of an essay for the authorized biography Walt Whitman by Dr. R. Bucke (Philadelphia: McKay: London: Trubner, 1883) has numerous revisions and additions in Whitman's hand and reveals how much of it was written by Whitman himself. A critical edition with facsimiles of 25 pages was published by New York University Press in 1974.
Presented by the author to Richard J. Hinton, and in turn presented by the latter to J. H. Johnston.
Also 3 holograph advertisements regarding the poem, prepared by Whitman for the press. Published with titles: A Word Out of the Sea and Out of the Cradle.
Draft of a version published in the New York Tribune, June 10, 1876. Later published under the title: From Far Dakota's Cañons.
With bound in typescript transcription. Also bound in: Emerson, Ralph Waldo. ALS to Robert Stewart. Edinburgh, Feb. 17 [1848] 1 l.
Published, p. 31-2, p. 31-2, Philadelphia, McKay, 1891, edition.
A Tribute to General Philip Sheridan.
See The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman. The Camden Edition, New York: Putnam, 1902. Vol. 6, p. 48, 200-201.
On verso of last page is recommendation of himself written by Whitman and crossed out.
Relates to the death of President Garfield.
With crossed out lines on recto. With note at top to Mr. Clarke regarding the setup and proof. Accompanied by: Garfield, James A. ALS to Edward Jarvis. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., May 31, 1869. 1 p.
Relates to the Civil War. Accompanying authenticating ms. note in unidentified hand: "...from the collection of J. H. Johnston, New York, Sept. 30, 1909."
See Series I, Whitman, Walt. Analysis of Poems. Manuscript of essay written by R. M. Bucke for his Walt Whitman, the authorized biography (Philadelphia: McKay: London: Trubner, 1883). With Walt Whitman's extensive corrections and additions. A critical edition with facsimiles of 25 pages was published by New York University Press in 1974.
Typescript of the same work with author's ms. corrections. 6 p.
Relates to Walt Whitman.
Includes material relating to Walt Whitman.
Once thought to be in Walt Whitman's hand.
First line of second poem used as Title.
In the same folder: Facsimile and copy of letters from Walt Whitman to M. D. Conway. Washington [D.C.] Feb. 17, 1868 and Camden, [n.y.] and copies of 2 letters from M. D. Conway to W. D. O'Connor. London, April 24 [1866?] and April 30 [1867]
Copy of 1 letter has reference to Joaquin Miller.
Submitting an article for publication. With ms. note identifying the article as What lurks behind Shakespeare's plays.
In folder with his: ALS to [J. B. Gilder, editor of the Critic] Camden, Sept. 16, 1884.
Inserted in: Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn, N.Y., 1855. 1st edition, 2nd issue. Copy 2.
Accompanied by his: Song of the Universal. Commencement poem, Tufts College, MA, June 17, 1874 [Camden, N.J.: New Republic print, 1874] broadside 43 x 14 cm.
enclosing a newspaper clipping: An Act of Singular Generosity [by Walt Whitman?]
Enclosing 2 proofs of Whitman's Preface to William D. O'Connor's Three Tales.
Accompanied by 2 ALS from O'Connor to Whitelaw Reid, May 19 and 26, 1882 with 4 letters from Reid to O'Connor, May 27-Oct.7, 1882, relating to articles on Whitman submitted by O'Connor to the New York Tribune.
Encloses: Riley, William Harrison. Copies, in an unknown hand, of 3 letters to Walt Whitman. St. George's Farm, Totley, near Sheffield, England. March 5, April 2 and 4, 1879. 5 p.; 3 p.; 4 p.; Also, Bathgate, W. J. Copy, in an unknown hand, of a letter to Walt Whitman. Oakenholt, Liscard, Cheshire, Eng., Jan 31, 1880. 3 p.
Encloses his: Whispers of Heavenly Death. Galley proof of 5 poems. Also a letter from Ezra H. Heywood, Nov. 5, 1882, relating to Leaves of Grass and 2 clippings.
Clippings were originally enclosed in this letter but we lack them.
Written on the 4th page of an ALS from W. S. Kennedy to Whitman [n.p., Jan., 1886? ]
Accompanied by 1 ALS from Sawyer to Lewis R. Brown, April 12, 1863, and 1 LS and 1 ALS from Sawyer to Walt Whitman, April 26, 1863 and Jan. 21, 1864.
In case with his: ALS to Arthur [Price] Camden, Jan. 25, 1887.
Relates to John G. Whittier.
Mentions John Ruskin's interest in Whitman. With Whitman, Walt. ANS to William D. O'Connor. Camden, N.J., Sept, 22 [1882] .
In: Whitman, Walt. 6 ALS to John Burroughs. 1871 - 1888. On verso of letter of Feb. 11, 1888.
With: Whitman, Walt. ALS to William D. O'Connor. [Jan. 18, 1886?]
Accompanied by a printed announcement of Kennedy's Walt Whitman, the Poet of Humanity.
Mentions John Ruskin's interest in Whitman. With: Whitman, Walt. ANS to William D. O'Connor. Camden. Sept. 22 [1882] .
Relates to William Sharp.
Relates to Leaves of Grass.
Enclosing carbon copy of extracts from letters from Horace Traubel to Bucke, Dec. 29 [1891] - March 26 [1892] headed Last days [of Walt Whitman] 32 p.
Removed from a collection of Whitmaniana of which the first item catalogued is Forman, H. B. 26 ALS, 6 LS and 1 postcard to R. M. Bucke, Feb. 26, 1896-Oct. 7, 1901.
Relates to Walt Whitman.
Relates to Walt Whitman.
Relates to Walt Whitman.
Relates to Walt Whitman.
Copy of letter belonged to Bliss Perry, Howe.
Also 4 pages of suggestions for the letter in Whitman's hand.
Mentions Poe monument and Whitman.
Relates to his Walt Whitman collection now in the Berg Collection.
Relates to the Putnam ed. of Whitman's works in 3 folders.
Relates to Walt Whitman.
Enclosed is Rossetti's copy, 2 l., of passages from Anne Gilchrist's letters to him of June 22, 23 and July 11, 1869, published as A Woman's Estimate of Walt Whitman.
Mentions Harriet Beecher Stowe's attack of Lord Byron. Published text in May 1870 Radical varies.
Enclosed in Bucke, R. M. ALS to Mrs. Ellen M. O'Connor Calder. London, Ont., April 18, 1892.
Mentions Burroughs and Whitman.
Relates to Walt Whitman.
With this is bound a photograph of Whitman, signed and dated 1872.
Ms. Title in Whitman's hand: Walt Whitman in 1891.
One mounted, with presentation inscription on verso, from Laurens Maynard to R. M. Bucke, Boston, 1896. Accompanied by photographic oil portrait of Whitman.
With this is bound a photograph of Whitman, signed and dated 1872.

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