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Literary Manuscripts

Integrated Catalog of Walt Whitman's Literary Manuscripts

When I Read The Book

  • Whitman Archive Title: The Biography
  • Whitman Archive ID: nyp.00082
  • Repository: Catalog of the Literary Manuscripts in The Oscar Lion Collection of Walt Whitman, The New York Public Library
  • Date: about 1867
  • Genre: poetry
  • Physical Description: 1 leaf, 18 by 11 cm, handwritten
  • View Images: 1 | 2
  • Content: Heavily revised draft of the poem "When I Read the Book" that extends onto the verso. The poem was first published in the 1867 edition of Leaves of Grass before being revised for inclusion in the "Inscriptions" cluster of the 1871 edition. This draft seems to correspond more closely to the earlier version of the poem, although it contains several lines that do not appear in either version.

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