Content:
Notes on Abraham Lincoln and the political climate leading up to the
"attempted secession," including handwritten corrections of printed
prose. This manuscript contributed to "Origins of Attempted Secession. Not the whole matter, but some
facts worth conning to-day and any day,"
Specimen Days & Collect
(1882–1883). "Origins of
Attempted Secession" was first published as part of "'Tis But Ten Years Since [First Paper],"
New York Weekly Graphic
(24 January 1874). Portions of this essay
were revised and used in
Memoranda During the
War
(1875–1876) before appearing in
Specimen Days & Collect
. Whitman
included "Origins of Attempted
Secession" in
Complete Prose
Works
(1892).
Content:
A draft fragment composed on two scraps of paper, pasted together to form one leaf. In this manuscript, Whitman addresses the symptoms and causes of the Civil War. The ideas presented in this manuscript appeared in
Memoranda During the War
(1875–76) before being revised and collected in
Specimen Days & Collect
(1882) as "Origins of Attempted Secession: Not the whole matter, but some side facts worth conning to-day and any day." On the verso of one scrap is a draft letter, addressed to A. R. Butts, dated 29 December 1873.
