Camden New Jersey
March 23 '82
Dear Sirs
Yours of 21st rec'd, with the curious list—I suppose of course from the
District Attorney's office—of "suggestions" lines and pages and pieces &c.
to be "expunged." The list whole & several is rejected by me, & will not be
thought of under any circumstances.1
To give you a definitive idea of what I meant in my notes of March 8 and March
19—& of course stick to—I mail you with this a copy of L. of G. with
the not numerous but fully effective changes and cancellations I thought of making:
see in it pages
All those lines & passages marked in pencil to come out, & their places to be
exactly filled with other matter—so that they will superficially present the
same appearance as now.2 The whole thing would not
involve an expense of more than from 5 to $10—
My proposition is that we at once make the revision here indicated, & go on with
the regular issue of the book—If then any further move is made by the District
Attorney & his backers—as of course there are others behind it
all—they will only burn their own fingers, & very badly—
I want the paper copy I send of L of G. returned to me when through.3
Walt Whitman
Let this whole matter be kept quiet in the house—no talk or information
that may lead to newspaper items—the change to be just silently
made—the book, & at casual view all its pages, to look just the
same—only those minutely looking detecting the difference—
Inform the official people at once that the cancellation is to be made for future
editions.4
W W
Write me at once & definitively if all this suits—
Notes
- 1. The publisher submitted
the following list of "Passages to be expurgated from Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of
Grass,'" a list not accurately recorded by Richard Maurice Bucke in Walt Whitman [Philadelphia: David McKay, 1883], 149n:
"Song of Myself" (p. 31, ll. 15–16; p. 32, ll. 19–22; p. 37, ll.
14–15; p. 48, ll. 20, 28, 29; p. 49, ll. 11, 20; p. 52, section 28,
beginning with l. 12; p. 59, ll. 11–12; p. 66, ll. 15–16); "From
Pent-Up Aching Rivers" (p. 79, ll. 21–22; pp. 80–81, ll. 14 to end);
"I Sing the Body Electric" (p. 84, ll. 1–17; p. 87, ll. 13, 28); "A Woman
Waits for Me" (pp. 88–89, "entire"); "Spontaneous Me" (pp. 90–91);
"Native Moments" (p. 94, ll. 1–7); "The Dalliance of the Eagles" (p. 216,
in entirety); "By Blue Ontario's Shore" (p. 266, ll. 21–22); "To a Common
Prostitute" (pp. 299–300, in entirety); "Unfolded Out of the Folds" (p.
303, ll. 2–3); "The Sleepers" (p. 325, half of l. 22; p. 331, ll.
9–10); and "Faces" (p. 355, ll. 13–17). See the letter from Osgood
& Company to Whitman of March 21, 1882. [back]
- 2. This copy of Leaves of Grass with Whitman's changes has either been
lost or was destroyed. It will be noted that Whitman agreed to alterations only
in "I Sing the Body Electric," "A Woman Waits for Me," and "Spontaneous Me." On
his copy of a draft of the letter to Osgood & Co. Whitman wrote: "By this
letter of W W March 23 several minor changes & alterations, words &
lines in two or three cases are consented to in 'Children of
Adam' but J R O. & the officials not considering them as at all
meeting the point they are entirely waived on both sides" (The Library of
Congress; The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman [New
York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1902], 8:295). [back]
- 3. Osgood & Co. replied
to Whitman on March 29: "We do not think the
official mind will be satisfied with the changes you propose. They seem to think
it necessary that the two poems 'A Woman Waits for Me' and 'Ode to a Common
Prostitute' should be omitted altogether. If you consent to this we think the
matter can be arranged without any other serious changes." [back]
- 4. This final paragraph was
included by the executors in the letter of March 7 (The
Complete Writings of Walt Whitman, 8:291). [back]