Content:
On the verso of what appears to be an incoming letter, Whitman states that he has "abandon'd the conventional
themes." These comments were revised and published in "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads,",
the essay that Whitman used to close the 1891–92 edition of
Leaves of
Grass.
"A Backward Glance O'er
Travel'd Roads" first appeared in
Lippincott's Magazine
(January
1887), under the title "My Book and
I." Reprinted in
Democratic Vistas,
and Other Papers
(1888), "My Book and I" was also combined with
"How I Made a Book,"
Philadelphia Press
(11 July 1889) and "A Backward
Glance on My Own Road,"
Critic
(5 January
1884) and published as "A Backward
Glance" in
November Boughs
(1888).
Content:
On one side of the leaf is a heavily revised prose fragment in which Whitman claims that his literary project has been to craft poetry which, rather than exemplifying conventional notions of poetic form, offers a faithful record of the writer's life and milieu. The relationship of this draft to any one of Whitman's published works is uncertain, though it resembles passages in several, including "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads" (1888) and "Note at End of Complete Poems and Prose" (1888). The other side of the leaf contains the last page of a letter to Whitman from James Matlack Scovel.
Content:
The thirty-first surface in this manuscript notebook contains a note "for
Preface" about "gossiping in the candle light" that resonates with the
beginning of the second paragraph of the article "My Book and I," published in the
Lippincott's Monthly Magazine
in January 1887. This same passage also appeared one year later
in "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd
Roads," published within
November
Boughs
(1888) and later included in
Leaves of
Grass
(1891-1892). The manuscript also contains a series of trial titles
that Whitman was possibly considering when preparing
Specimen Days & Collect
(1882-1883). The thirty-fifth leaf
contains a draft for a poem, including the deleted line "Away from houses,
reading, art" that resembles the second line in the poem "A Clear Midnight," published in
Leaves of
Grass
(1881-1882) and retained thereafter.
Whitman Archive Title: [Established poems have the very great]
Content:
A manuscript fragment composed on the verso of a page of a program or journal of the American Social Sciences Association, dated 1883–1884. This manuscript appears to be a draft fragment of "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads," the introductory essay which first appeared in
November Boughs
(1888). "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd roads" became the closing essay for
Leaves of Grass
, appearing in both the 1889 and 1892 printings of that work.
Whitman Archive Title: [Many consider the expressions]
Content:
Two short clippings of Whitman's own prose, which have been pasted to a
larger sheet and feature corrections in Whitman's hand. The printed text
appeared uncorrected in the 5 January 1884 issue of the
Critic
with the title, "A Backward Glance on My Own Road." This
essay was revised and included in
Democratic
Vistas, and Other Papers
(1888) before
parts of it were combined with two other pieces of journalism ("How I Made a Book,"
Philadelphia Press
, 11 July 1886; "My Book and
I,"
Lippincott's Magazine
, January 1887) and published as "A
Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads" in
November Boughs
(1888).
Content:
This manuscript is a draft of the essay "How I Made a Book," published in the
Philadelphia Press
on July 11,
1886 and later included in
Democratic Vistas, and Other Papers
published in 1888. The manuscript also contains two clippings (with handwritten
revisions) of the essay "A Backward
Glance on My Own Road," published in the
Critic
on January 5, 1884. (This latter essay was revised and also included in
Democratic Vistas, and Other Papers
published in 1888). "How I Made a Book," "A Backward Glance on my Own Road" and "My
Book and I" (which was published in
Lippincott's Magazine
on January 1887 and later included in
Democratic Vistas, and Other Papers
published in 1888)
all contributed to form the essay "A
Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads" which was published in
November Boughs
in 1888 and
later retained in the 1892 edition of
Leaves of Grass
.
Content:
A late-stage draft, with printer's notes, of the essay "My Book and I," which was first published in
Lippincott's
in January 1887. Much of this essay would later appear, slightly altered, in "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads," published in Whitman's
November Boughs
in 1888.
Content:
Clipping, with handwritten revisions, of a passage from "A Backward Glance on My Own Road," which
had been published in the January 5, 1884 issue of
The Critic.
This passage was incorporated
into "My Book and I," which was first
published in the January 1887 issue of
Lippincott's Monthly Magazine.
It was also retained when
Whitman used these and two other earlier essays ("How 'Leaves of Grass' Was Made" and
"How I Made a Book") to fashion
"A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd
Roads," first published in
November
Boughs
(1888) and reprinted in the so-called
deathbed edition of 1891–1892. It is unclear whether
this manuscript was created in the processes that produced "My Book and I" or if it dates from the
later work to create "A Backward Glance O'er
Travel'd Roads."
Content:
Draft lines and phrases under the title "Drift
Sands." Whitman never published a poem with this title,
though this and several other closely related manuscripts seem to
constitute working drafts for the couplet "As idly drifting down the
ebb, / Such ripples, half-caught voices, echo from the shore," which
appears before the final paragraph of "A
Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads," first published in
November Boughs
(1888). Most
of "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd
Roads" was drawn from three previously published pieces ("A Backward Glance on My Own Road [1884],"
"How I Made a Book" [1886], and "My Book and I"
[1887]). The couplet, however, was not
part of any of those earlier essays. On the reverse side of the
manuscript is a letter to Whitman dated June 8, 1885.
Content:
Two draft lines, with the title "Drift
Sands." Whitman never published a poem with this title,
though this and several other closely related manuscripts seem to
constitute working drafts for the couplet "As idly drifting down the
ebb, / Such ripples, half-caught voices, echo from the shore," which
appears before the final paragraph of "A
Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads," first published in
November Boughs
(1888). Most
of "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd
Roads" was drawn from three previously published pieces ("A Backward Glance on My Own Road [1884],"
"How I Made a Book" [1886], and "My Book and I"
[1887]). The couplet, however, was not
part of any of those earlier essays.
Content:
Manuscript scrap containing two trial titles and two poetic lines, with
corrections. Although Whitman never published a poem with either of
these titles, this and several other closely related manuscripts seem to
constitute working drafts for the couplet "As idly drifting down the
ebb, / Such ripples, half-caught voices, echo from the shore," which
appears before the final paragraph of "A
Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads," first published in
November Boughs
(1888). Most
of "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd
Roads" was drawn from three previously published pieces ("A Backward Glance on My Own Road [1884],"
"How I Made a Book" [1886], and "My Book and I"
[1887]). The couplet, however, was not
part of any of those earlier essays.
Whitman Archive Title: [Ripple and echoes from the]
Content:
Manuscript containing draft versions of lines that appear before the
final paragraph of "A Backward Glance O'er
Travel'd Roads" as the couplet "As idly drifting down the
ebb, / Such ripples, half-caught voices, echo from the shore." First
published in
November Boughs
(1888) "A Backward Glance O'er
Travel'd Roads" was mostly made up of material from three
previously published pieces: "A Backward
Glance on My Own Road (1884),"
"How I Made a Book" (1886), and "My Book and I"
(1887). The couplet, however, was not
part of any of those earlier essays.
Content:
This manuscript of two draft lines and title is closely related to
several other manuscripts, all of which seem to constitute working
drafts for the lines that appear before the final paragraph of "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads"
as the couplet "As idly drifting down the ebb, / Such ripples,
half-caught voices, echo from the shore." First published in
November Boughs
(1888) "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads"
was mostly made up of material from three previously published pieces:
"A Backward Glance on My Own Road (1884),"
"How I Made a Book" (1886), and "My Book and I"
(1887). The couplet, however, was not
part of any of those earlier essays.
Content:
A series of short phrases, the longest of which is written with hanging
indentation. This manuscript probably contributed to the couplet "As
idly drifting down the ebb, / Such ripples, half-caught voices, echo
from the shore," which appears before the final paragraph of "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads,"
first published in
November Boughs
(1888). Most of "A Backward Glance
O'er Travel'd Roads" was drawn from three previously
published pieces ("A Backward Glance on My
Own Road [1884],"
"How I Made a Book" [1886], and "My Book and I"
[1887]). The couplet, however, was not
part of any of those earlier essays. On the reverse side of the
manuscript is a letter to Whitman dated November 14, 1884.
Content:
A one-page draft of a footnote for "A Backward
Glance O'er Travel'd Roads," which was first published in the
so-called deathbed edition of
Leaves of
Grass
in 1891. Although Whitman created the
essay from several previously published pieces, the note inscribed on
this manuscript had not appeared in print before.
