Content:
A draft fragment of Whitman's "Preface, 1876, to the two-volume Centennial Edition of L. of G. and 'Two Rivulets,'" originally published in
Two Rivulets
(1876). Whitman included this preface in his
Complete Prose Works
(1892). This manuscript draft is comprised of three scraps of paper pasted together to make one leaf. On the verso of one of these scraps is a note Whitman made regarding his deteriorating health, which bears no discernible connection to Whitman's published works. This manuscript is catalogued with an envelope addressed to Herbert Gilchrist, postmarked 28 January 189[1].
Content:
These fragmentary notes were probably written as Whitman drafted the preface for the publication in 1876 of
Leaves of Grass
and
Two Rivulets
as a two-volume set. The preface was reprinted in
Specimen Days & Collect
(1882–83) under the title "Preface, 1876, to L. of G. and 'Two Rivulets,' Centennial Edition." The notes on the reverse side, tex.00098, are probably related to the essay "Emerson's Books, (The Shadows of Them.)"
Whitman Archive Title: 2d Preface to As a Strong Bird
Content:
A brief prose note headed "2d Preface to As a Strong Bird." On June 26, 1872,
Whitman presented the poem "As
a Strong Bird on Pinions Free" for the Dartmouth College
commencement, and it appeared in print that same date in both the
New York Herald
and the
Washington Evening Post
. Whitman published it later that year as the title poem in a
small book,
As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free: and Other Poems
(1872). The title was later revised to "Thou Mother with Thy Equal Brood" when it was included in
Leaves of Grass
in 1881–1882. Though this prose draft may have been intended as a second preface to the poem before its title revision in 1881, portions of this manuscript were first used in an essay titled, "Preface," which appeared at the beginning of
Two Rivulets
, the second volume of the "Centennial Edition" of
Leaves of Grass
(1876). The title was later changed to "Preface, 1876, to the two-volume Centennial Edition of L. of G. and 'Two Rivulets.'" In the top left corner Whitman has written "Waves in the Vessel's Wake," a title that was used in manuscript for the poem published first as "In the Wake Following" in 1874 and as "After the Sea-Ship" in 1876.
Content:
A heavily revised draft fragment, composed of several scraps of paper pasted together to form two leaves. The notes found on the first leaf were used in "Preface, 1876, to the two-volume Centennial Edition of L. of G. and 'Two Rivulets'" (1876). The prose fragment on the second leaf contributed to "Darwinism—(then Furthermore)," a short prose piece that orginally appeared in
Two Rivulets
(1876), but that was later incorporated into the "Notes Left Over" section of
Collect
in
Specimen Days & Collect
(1882–83). Both of these pieces were eventually included in
Complete Prose Works
(1892). Cancelled Civil War "reminiscences" on the Battle of First Fredericksburgh and the sinking of the U.S.S.
Hatteras
appear on the verso of the second leaf. Whitman wrote about both of these events in "'Tis But Ten Years Since (Third Paper),"
New York Weekly Graphic
(14 February 1874).
