The reviews collected here include all of the items found in Walt Whitman: The Contemporary Reviews, ed. Kenneth M. Price (Cambridge University Press, 1996). In addition, we have included more than one hundred additional reviews that were not included in that volume because of space considerations or because they had not been discovered. In short, this online collection represents the most complete collection of contemporary reviews of Whitman to be found anywhere. Users who discover additional reviews are urged to contact the directors of the Whitman Archive to help make an ever-more complete record. The reviews written during Whitman's lifetime, frequently within weeks or months of the appearance of his various publications, provide an important lens with which to view his earliest reception. The response to Whitman was lively, colorful, and at times wildly extreme. These extraordinary reviews are one index to the power of the writings that prompted them.
Users of this site may notice that some reviews are annotated (those that were collected in WWQR) and others are not (those collected in the Cambridge University Press volume). Ultimately we hope to annotate all the reviews for their presentation on the Whitman Archive.
Simply enter the word you wish to find and the search engine will search for every instance of the word in the journals. For example: Fight. All instances of the use of the word fight will show up on the results page.
Using an asterisk (*) will increase the odds of finding the results you are seeking. For example: Fight*. The search results will display every instance of fight, fights, fighting, etc. More than one wildcard may be used. For example: *ricar*. This search will return most references to the Aricara tribe, including Ricara, Ricares, Aricaris, Ricaries, Ricaree, Ricareis, and Ricarra. Using a question mark (?) instead of an asterisk (*) will allow you to search for a single character. For example, r?n will find all instances of ran and run, but will not find rain or ruin.
Searches are not case sensitive. For example: george will come up with the same results as George.
Searching for a specific phrase may help narrow down the results. Rather long phrases are no problem. For example: "This white pudding we all esteem".
Because of the creative spellings used by the journalists, it may be necessary to try your search multiple times. For example: P?ro*. This search brings up numerous variant spellings of the French word pirogue, "a large dugout canoe or open boat." Searching for P?*r*og?* will bring up other variant spellings. Searching for canoe or boat also may be helpful.
| Entering in only one field | Searches |
|---|---|
| Year, Month, & Day | Single day |
| Year & Month | Whole month |
| Year | Whole year |
| Month & Day | 1600-#-# to 2100-#-# |
| Month | 1600-#-1 to 2100-#-31 |
| Day | 1600-01-# to 2100-12-# |