Content:
Notes that Whitman made about Goethe. Unlike many of Whitman's other notes about authors, these notes seem to be based at least in part on his own observations rather than on secondary criticism. Some of the ideas contained in the scrap (particularly the final portion of the second leaf) found their way into Whitman's essay "American National Literature," which appeared in the
North American Review
in March 1891, under the title "Have We a National Literature?" It was later reprinted in
Good-Bye My Fancy
(1891), under the title "American National Literature" before finally appearing in
Complete Prose Works
(1892). Although the essay was not published until later, Edward Grier suggests that the manuscript dates from late 1856 (
Notebooks and Unpublished Prose Manuscripts
[New York: New York University Press, 1984] 5:1827). Pasted on the reverse of the first page is a clipping from an article entitled "The True Character of Goethe."
Content:
A prose fragment that Whitman used in the essay, "American National Literature," first published in the
North American Review
in March 1891, under the title "Have We a National Literature?" The essay was reprinted in
Good-Bye My Fancy
(1891) before finally being collected in
Complete Prose Works
(1892).
Whitman Archive Title: [and a surplus of a hundred millions & more]
Content:
This manuscript is a partial draft of "American National Literature. Is There Any Such Thing—or Can
There Ever Be?," which first appeared in the March 1891 issue of
North American Review
under the title, "Have We a National Literature?" before
appearing in
Good-Bye By Fancy
(1891, and
Complete Prose
Works
(1892).
Content:
Draft fragment of "American National Literature," first published in
Good-Bye My Fancy
(1891). Whitman included this piece of literary criticism in
Complete Prose Works
(1892).
Content:
The first page of a draft essay that was published in the March 1891 issue of
The North American Review
under the title "Have We a National Literature?" It was later reprinted in
Good-Bye My Fancy
(1891), under the title "American National Literature" before finally appearing in
Complete Prose Works
(1892). Whitman's extensive revisions are done in ink and several different colors of pencil, and the two scraps of paper that constitute this manuscript leaf were pasted together by the author to create a single inscribed surface. The whole has been affixed, probably by Horace Traubel, one of Whitman's literary executors, to a backing sheet made of letterhead stationery from the office of "The Artsman." Traubel's note on the backing sheet's lower right corner is dated 1907 and indicates that he presented this item to William Gable.
Whitman Archive Title: [Then Another and very grave point]
Content:
A partial draft of "American National Literature: Is There Any Such Thing—or Can There Ever Be?," which appeared in the March 1891 issue of
North American Review
, as "Have We a National Literature?" before being collected in
Good-Bye My Fancy
(1891).
Content:
This manuscript led to a passage published in "Have We a National Literature," (
North American Review
, 152, March 1891), and in
Good-bye My Fancy
2nd Annex to Leaves of Grass
(1891), in
the section entitled "American National
Literature."
