Catalog of the Walt Whitman Literary Manuscripts in the Walt Whitman Collection, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Original records created by Rare Books and Special Collections, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; revised and expanded by the Walt Whitman Archive and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. Encoded Archival Description completed with the assistance of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the University of Nebraska Research Council, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

Title: Catalog of the Walt Whitman Literary Manuscripts in the Walt Whitman Collection, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Collection Number: ucb.ead01
Creator: Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892
Repository: The Bancroft Library

Abstract:
This catalog was created from the original finding aid obtained by the Walt Whitman Archive. The original papers and finding aid are held in Rare Books and Special Collections, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Scope and Content:
The bulk of the collection, working notes for Specimen Days, has been divided into three sections. The first contains all the prefatory notes and references to the writing, the content, and the title of the book (including some which may in fact describe other works); these are arranged by title or first line of manuscript not crossed out. The second contains notes for the various chapters of Specimen Days, arranged and published by title; if there is more than one fragmentary note for the chapter, they are arranged in order of their appearance in the chapter. The third contains all notes which could not be indentified as related to a particular chapter, and possibly not to Specimen Days itself; they have been arranged by title or first line. The Walt Whitman Collection holds two poetry manuscripts. This catalog includes item-level descriptions of only those items deemed poetry and prose manuscripts.
Biographical Information:
For additional biographical information, see "Walt Whitman", by Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price, and the chronology of Whitman's Life.
Subjects:
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892--Manuscripts
- Poets, American--19th century

Individual items at this repository

Whitman Archive Title: The Singer in the Prison
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00001
Box: 1
Folder: 47
Repository Title: The Singer in the Prison
Date: ca. 1875
Genre: poetry, prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten; printed
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: A corrected proof of the poem "The Singer in the Prison," first published in the Saturday Evening Visitor (25 December 1869), reprinted in Passage to India (1871) and Leaves of Grass (1881–1882 and 1891–1892). Notes in pencil indicate Whitman was thinking of a potential connection with Parepa Rosa, a famous nineteenth-century opera singer. The verso contains prose notes about horses.

Whitman Archive Title: Wood Odors
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00002
Box: 1
Folder: 3
Repository Title: Wood Odors Poem
Date: ca. 1875
Genre: poetry
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Content: A draft of a poem unpublished in Whitman's lifetime entitled "Wood Odors." The poem was apparently written as Whitman was making notes for his 1882-1883 book, Specimen Days & Collect . Specifically, the poem appears to respond to the visit he made to the Stafford farm in New Jersey in the mid-1870s. Some have argued that this draft is not a poem at all, but a list of phrases toward the composition of Specimen Days & Collect (see David Goodale, "Wood Odors," Walt Whitman Review 8 [March 1962], 17). "Wood Odors" was published first in Harper's Magazine 221 (December 1960), 43.

Whitman Archive Title: [and many an autumn sight]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00037
Box: 1
Folder: 53
Repository Title: —and many an autumn sight
Date: 1876–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: Two scraps of paper pasted to a backing sheet to make one leaf. These scraps feature draft lines which appeared slightly revised in the 29 January 1881 issue of the The Critic as part of "How I Get Around at 60, and Take Notes. (No. 1)," under the section heading "Autumn Scenes and Sights." Whitman continued to revise this piece of prose, eventually publishing it as "Autumn Side-Bits," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883).

Whitman Archive Title: [? to conclude 'Footsteps']
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00007
Box: 1
Folder: 12
Repository Title: As I loiter amid a scene
Date: 1876–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: A heavily revised prose fragment which features the heading, "? to conclude 'Footsteps.'" "Footsteps" was possibly a working title for Specimen Days & Collect . The final line of the prose fragment—"In serene hours, to the Soul, of a fine day or night, Nature seems to look even on the best Poetry and Art as something foreign, something almost impertinent"—appeared with some revisions in "Final Confessions—Literary Tests," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). On the verso of this manuscript is a portion of a letter from J. S. Smith to Whitman, requesting the poet's autograph.

Whitman Archive Title: [I have jotted down these memoranda]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00013
Box: 1
Folder: 20
Repository Title: I have written these memoranda
Date: 1876–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: A short prose manuscript that reads like notes towards a preface. However, Whitman appears to have returned to this manuscript at a later date, revising some phrases and suggesting that this scrap is the "best foot note of all for first page." In fact, portions of this manuscript were used in Whitman's footnote to "New Themes Entered Upon," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883).

Whitman Archive Title: [I just spin out my notes]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00014
Box: 1
Folder: 22
Repository Title: I just spin out my notes
Date: 1876–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: Three scraps of paper, pasted together to make one leaf. Whitman used lines from this manuscript in separate sections of Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). A large portion of this manuscript was revised and appeared under the heading, "Final Confessions—Literary Tests." The line which reads, "I must take notes (The ruling passion strong in sickness and—But I must not say it yet)," appeared slightly revised in the 29 January 1881 issue of The Critic, under the title "How I Get Around at 60, and Take Notes. (No. 1.)" before appearing in Specimen Days , as part of the section titled "New Themes Entered Upon."

Whitman Archive Title: [Brook Babbling]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00029
Box: 1
Folder: 45
Repository Title: Brook Babbling
Date: 1876–1890
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: Prose notes titled "Brook Babbling" with another possible title, "?Sounds," written in the upper-left-hand corner of the page. Portions of this manuscript appeared slightly revised in "To the Spring and Brook," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) before being collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [—the silent darting of many sand swallows]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00032
Box: 1
Folder: 47
Repository Title: The silent darting of many sand swallows
Date: ca. 1876–1877
Genre: prose, poetry
Physical Description: 3 leaves, handwritten; printed
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Content: Prose notes in which Whitman provides a detailed sensory description of a pastoral setting, possibly the "charmingly recluse and rural spot along Timber Creek" where Whitman spent restorative time in the mid- to late-1870s. Lines from this manuscript appeared in "Sundown Perfume—Quail-Notes—The Hermit-Thrush," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883), which was later collected in Complete Prose Works (1892). On the verso of the third leaf is a corrected proof of "The Singer in the Prison," also described in this finding aid (see the entry for ucb.00001).

Whitman Archive Title: [Then the reedy monotone]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00033
Box: 1
Folder: 48
Repository Title: Locusts and Katy-Dids
Date: ca. 1876–1877
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Content: Two scraps of paper featuring notes on the "reedy monotones of the locust." Whitman included some of these lines in "Locusts and Katydids," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). "Locusts and Katydids" was later collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: The Lesson of a Tree
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00034
Box: 1
Folder: 50
Repository Title: The Lesson of a Tree
Date: 1876–1877
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Content: A partial draft of "The Lesson of a Tree," which was published as a section of Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883), and collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [One lesson from studying]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00035
Box: 1
Folder: 49
Repository Title: One lesson from studying and affiliating a tree
Date: 1876–1877
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: A draft fragment that Whitman used in slightly revised form in "The Lesson of a Tree," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) before including it in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [last of Sept. '76]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00036
Box: 1
Folder: 52
Repository Title: The ground in all directions is stretched
Date: 1876–1877
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: A draft paragraph describing Whitman's time at Timber Creek, where he spent some restorative time in the mid- to late-1870s. Much of this draft first appeared in the 29 January 1881 issue of The Critic , as part of "How I Get Around at 60, and Take Notes. (No. 1)," under the section heading "Autumn Scenes and Sights." This piece of prose was slightly revised and eventually published as "Autumn Side-Bits," in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) before appearing in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [Sept 20 '76]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00038
Box: 1
Folder: 51
Repository Title: Sept. 20 '76
Date: 1876
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: A draft fragment, portions of which Whitman first published in "How I Get Around at 60, and Take Notes. (No. 1)," The Critic 29 January 1881, under the heading "Autumn Scenes and Sights." Whitman used this portion of prose nearly unchanged in "Autumn Side-Bits," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). "Autumn Side-Bits" was eventually collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [?Part of the Sky]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00039
Box: 1
Folder: 55
Repository Title: Part of the sky
Date: 1876–1877
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Content: A heavily revised draft fragment of "The Sky—Days and Nights—Happiness," a section of prose that appeared in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and was later published in Complete Prose Works (1892). This manuscript includes Whitman's notes and thoughts on Byron, happiness, and the "German legend of the King's Bell." Whitman composed this draft on the verso of a letter sent from Richard J. Hinton, dated 12 December.

Whitman Archive Title: [Night of Oct 11]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00040
Box: 1
Folder: 56
Repository Title: Night of Oct. 11—
Date: 1876–1877
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: A small scrap of paper containing Whitman's notes on the night sky, "the heavens unusually transparent." Though Whitman dates this note "night of Oct 11," the description which appeared in "The Sky—Days and Nights—Happiness," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) is dated "Night of Oct. 28." "The Sky—Days and Nights—Happiness" was later published in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [Down at the creek]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00042
Box: 1
Folder: 58
Repository Title: Down at the Creek
Date: 1876
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: A prose draft, dated November 8, 1876 and headed "Down at the Creek." Portions of this manuscript appeared under the title "November 8, '76" in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). "November 8, '76" was later collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [Ever since I have written]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00044
Box: 1
Folder: 60
Repository Title: Sea-Shore Fancies
Date: 1876–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 3 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Content: A nearly complete draft of "Sea-Shore Fancies," a short prose piece that first appeared in the 29 January 1881 issue of The Critic , as part of "How I Get Around at 60, and Take Notes. (No. 1)," under the section heading "A Fine Winter Day on the Beach." Whitman later divided this section into two separate items. The draft represented here was eventually published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883), under the title "Sea-Shore Fancies," and later collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: ['76 White Horse]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00055
Box: 1
Folder: 54
Repository Title: Cloudy and Coolish
Date: 1876
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Content: A Draft fragment of "Autumn Side-Bits," that first appeared in the 29 January 1881 issue of The Critic as part of "How I Get Around at 60, and Take Notes. (No. 1)," under the section heading "Autumn Scenes and Sights." Whitman further revised this prose piece before including it in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) as part of "Autumn Side-Bits," which was later collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [Footsteps]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00009
Box: 1
Folder: 16
Repository Title: Footsteps
Date: 1876–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: Draft lines and trial titles headed "Footsteps," apparently intended for a preface of some sort. "Footsteps" was possibly a working title for Specimen Days . A single line from this manuscript, "Only the undulations of my Thought beneath under the Night and Stars—or at midday looking out upon the Sea," appeared slightly revised in "Final Confessions—Literary Tests," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). Whitman included Final Confessions—Literary Tests in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [The Sky Monday]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00095
Box: 1
Folder: 64
Repository Title: Still, bright mellow forenoon
Date: about 1876
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Content: Notes on the sky, dated 13 November 1876, and that contributed to "The Sky—Days and Nights—Happiness," which appeared in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) before being collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [Feb 11—The first chirping]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00046
Box: 1
Folder: 61
Repository Title: The first chirping
Date: 1877
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: Notes dated February 10–11, 1877, which read like a series of journal entries. These notes compose a partial draft of "Spring Overtures—Recreations," a prose piece which first appeared in the 29 January 1881 issue of The Critic , as "How I Get Around at 60, and Take Notes. (No. 1)," under the heading "Spring Overtures." These notes describing the onset of spring were revised and later published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). "Spring Overtures—Recreations" was finally appeared in Complete Prose Works (1892). On the verso of this manuscript is a partial sketch of a building, with measurements and notes in Whitman's hand.

Whitman Archive Title: [Aug 26—Bright is the day]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00047
Box: 1
Folder: 62
Repository Title: Bright is the day
Date: 1877
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Content: Notes dated August 26, 1877, describing the "full-starr'd" night sky of late summer. Whitman included revised lines from this manuscript in "Full-Starr'd Nights," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). "Full-Starr'd Nights" was eventually collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [Feb 10—Warmish to-day]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00054
Box: 1
Folder: 68
Repository Title: Warmish today
Date: 1877
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Content: Notes detailing a portion of Whitman's restorative time in the rural area near Timber Creek. These notes first appeared in the 9 April 1881 issue of The Critic as part of "How I Get Around at Sixty and Take Notes. (No. 2)," under the section heading "Convalescent Hours." Whitman further revised these notes before publishing them as a portion of "The Oaks and I," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). "The Oaks and I" was later published in Complete Prose Works (1892). Though Whitman dated these manuscript notes 10 February 1877, he seems to have been unsure about the precise date of this piece. Published versions of this prose item appeared with a date of 5 September 1877.

Whitman Archive Title: [Sunday Aug 27 '77]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00048
Repository ID: 72/234 z 1:64
Box: 1
Folder: 64
Repository Title: Another happy day
Date: 1877
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: A heavily revised draft fragment of "A Sun-Bath—Nakedness." Much of this manuscript was first published in the 9 April 1881 issue of The Critic under the title "How I Get Around at Sixty and Take Notes. (No. 2)." Revised portions of this draft were used as the first paragraph of the section titled "Convalescent Hours." Whitman further revised these notes before publishing them in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) as "A Sun-Bath—Nakedness," which eventually appeared in Complete Prose Works (1892). On the verso of this manuscript is a letter fragment from George G. Clapp to Whitman.

Whitman Archive Title: Butterflies
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00069
Box: 1
Folder: 40
Repository Title: Butterflies (now taking the place)
Date: 1877–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: Two small scraps of paper pasted together to make one leaf. Whitman revised these notes and used them in "Straw-Color'd and Other Psyches," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and included in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: The wild carrot
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00098
Box: 1
Folder: 67
Repository Title: The Wild Carrot
Date: 1878–1879
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: This manuscript consists of three smaller scraps of paper that have been pasted together to form a larger sheet. The first part of this manuscript was slightly revised and used nearly verbatim in "Mature Summer Days and Nights." The second and third scraps were revised and contributed to "Distant Sounds." Both of these prose pieces first appeared in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883), and were included in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: (The Sky)
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00099
Box: 1
Folder: 68
Repository Title: How cheap and common and unfailing
Date: about 1877
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: Notes, dated 14 July 1877, that contributed to "The Sky—Days and Nights—Happiness," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883), and collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: cedar-apples
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00030
Box: 1
Folder: 46
Repository Title: Cedar-apples
Date: 1878
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 3 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Content: Draft notes of a short prose item, dated 25 April 1878. This prose piece appeared undated in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) titled, "Cedar-Apples."

Whitman Archive Title: [Sky]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00041
Box: 1
Folder: 57
Repository Title: Sky
Date: 1878
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Content: A partial draft of "The Sky—Days and Nights—Happiness," initially dated Oct 19 '78; however, Whitman seems to have been unsure about the precise date of these notes. Whitman seems to have revised this date more than once. In the upper-left-hand corner of the page Whitman indicates that these lines refer to a night in November: "? Later—Nov. Sky." The published version that appeared in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) indicates that these notes describe a time "Early in November." "The Sky—Days and Nights—Happiness" was later published in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [Mid-day on the Beach]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00043
Box: 1
Folder: 59
Repository Title: Mid-day on the beach
Date: 1878
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten; printed
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Content: Various scraps of paper, including two clippings of Whitman's own published prose, pasted together to create two separate leaves. Portions of this manuscript first appeared in "Winter Sunshine: A Trip from Canada to the Coast," Philadelphia Times , 26 January 1879. This manuscript contains a nearly complete draft of "A Winter Day on the Beach," a section of prose that appeared in the 29 January 1881 issue of The Critic as "How I Get Around at 60, and Take Notes. (No. 1)," under the heading "A Fine Winter Day on the Beach." Whitman dated this draft December 1878, and the manuscript shows evidence of title revisions. A revised version of this prose piece was eventually published as part of Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883), and finally collected in Complete Prose Works (1892). On the verso of the second leaf is a portion of a letter from A. B. Ashley to Whitman, requesting an autograph.

Whitman Archive Title: A Sun-Bath—Nakedness
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00050
Box: 1
Folder: 65; 66; 67
Repository Title: A Sun-Bath—Nakedness
Date: 1878
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 6 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Content: Heavily revised prose notes written on various scraps of paper, including a letter fragment and an envelope addressed to Whitman, some of which have been pasted together to create larger sheets. Together these leaves comprise a nearly complete draft of "A Sun-Bath—Nakedness," which Whitman published as part of Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and later collected in Complete Prose Works (1892). Though Whitman dates a portion of these manuscript notes July 18, 1878, this prose piece was published in Specimen Days under the date, August 27, 1877. The verso of the third leaf contains a fragment of a letter to Whitman from an unknown correspondent, whose closing signature has been obscured. This item is catalogued as three separate manuscripts in the Livezey collection; however, as they seem to form a continuous and nearly complete draft, we have grouped them together as one item.

Whitman Archive Title: [By the Creek]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00066
Box: 1
Folder: 38
Repository Title: A Meadow Lark
Date: 1878–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: Notes on the meadow lark, dated 16 March 1878. This manuscript contributed to "A Meadow Lark," which first appeared in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883), and was collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [Hay and corn]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00067
Box: 1
Folder: 39
Repository Title: Clover and Hay Perfume
Date: 1878–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 3 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Content: Various scraps of paper pasted together to form three separate leaves. This manuscript is a draft of "Clover and Hay Perfume," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and included in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [White Butterflies]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00068
Box: 1
Folder: 40
Repository Title: Over the glistening bronze brook
Date: 1878–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 3 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Content: Notes on butterflies that Whitman revised and used in "Straw-Color'd and Other Psyches," which appeared in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) before appearing in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [I sit by the edge of the pond]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00070
Box: 1
Folder: 41
Repository Title: A Night Remembrance
Date: 1878–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: Various scraps of paper, including an envelope addressed to Whitman from Richard Maurice Bucke, which have been pasted together to create one large leaf. These scraps comprise a nearly complete, though not unrevised, draft of "A Night Remembrance," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and collected in Complete Prose Works (1892). On the verso of this manuscript is what appears to be a scrap of a letter.

Whitman Archive Title: September and October wild flowers
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00071
Box: 1
Folder: 42
Repository Title: This has been & is
Date: 1878–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 3 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Content: Notes on flowers that Whitman revised and used in "Wild Flowers," which appeared in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [Out of mere civility]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00072
Box: 1
Folder: 42
Repository Title: Out of mere civility
Date: 1878–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: A heavily revised sentence, which Whitman revised even further before including in "Wild Flowers," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). Whitman included "Wild Flowers" in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [?bring this in the text]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00073
Box: 1
Folder: 43
Repository Title: A Civility too long neglected
Date: 1878–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: Notes which contributed to "A Civility too Long Neglected," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883), and included in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [in the brook]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00074
Box: 1
Folder: 44
Repository Title: Mature Summer Days and Nights
Date: 1878–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Content: This manuscript is a draft of "Mature Summer Days and Nights," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: Sky
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00092
Box: 1
Folder: 61
Repository Title: In all the manifold shows of the universe
Date: about 1878
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Content: A heavily revised draft on the "vastness" of the human soul. Portions of this manuscript were revised and used in "The Sky—Days and Nights—Happiness," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883), and collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [A Bit of Preface]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00008
Box: 1
Folder: 14
Repository Title: A Bit of a Preface
Date: 1879
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: A prose note, headed "Preface—Paragraph" and dated "?Oct Sept '79," with "A Bit of Preface" scrawled in the upper-left-hand corner of the page. Though Whitman apparently intended these notes for a preface, portions of this manuscript were used in "An Early Summer Reveille," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883).

Whitman Archive Title: [These notes are all diverted from]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00023
Box: 1
Folder: 40
Repository Title: These notes are all diverted
Date: 1879–1881
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: A heavily revised draft fragment of "Final Confessions—Literary Tests," which first appeared in Specimen Days (1882–1883), and was later collected in Complete Prose Works (1892). On the verso of this manuscript is a letter to Whitman from James M. Scovel, dated 7 February 1879.

Whitman Archive Title: Trip to Kansas &c
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00081
Box: 1
Folder: 49
Repository Title: Begin a Long Jaunt West
Date: 1879–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
View Images: 1 | 2
Content: Notes with the heading, "Trip to Kansas &c," portions of which Whitman revised and used in "Begin a Long Jaunt West," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and collected in Complete Prose Works (1892). The verso of this manuscript includes a miscellaneous list, which Whitman identifies as "travelers, merchants, Leadville folk."

Whitman Archive Title: [visit to Exposition building &c &c]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00075
Box: 1
Folder: 45
Repository Title: Exposition Building—New City Hall—River Trip
Date: 1879–1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 4 leaves, handwritten
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Content: A draft of "Exposition Building—New City Hall—River Trip," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: Sept. 3 '79—Cloudy and wet
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00076
Box: 1
Folder: 79
Repository Title: Cloudy and wet, wind due east
Date: about 1879
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
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Content: A draft of "Swallows on the River," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: travelling the Rocky mountains
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00083
Box: 1
Folder: 87
Repository Title: Travelling the Rocky Mountains
Date: about 1879
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
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Content: Heavily revised prose notes detailing Whitman's trip over the Rocky Mountains in September 1879. Much of the material in this manuscript was revised and used in "An Egotistical Find," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883); and included, without revisions, in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: Bullion—Hard Cash
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00084
Box: 1
Folder: 52
Repository Title: Denver Impressions
Date: about 1879
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten; printed
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Content: Notes on the gold and silver product, which contributed to "Denver Impressions," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). Whitman included "Denver Impressions" in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: Gossip of Early Candlelight
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00011
Box: 1
Folder: 18
Repository Title: Gossip of Early Candle Light
Date: 1880
Genre: prose, poetry
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
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Content: Prose notes, titled "Gossip of Early Candlelight." Portions of this manuscript appeared in "An Interregnum Paragraph," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). The second leaf contains draft lines for the poem, "A Clear Midnight," see the description for ucb.00065 in this finding aid.

Whitman Archive Title: [still call myself a Half-Paralytic]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00065
Box: 1
Folder: 18
Repository Title: Gossip of Early Candle Light
Date: 1880
Genre: poetry, prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
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Content: Draft lines of the poem, "A Clear Midnight," which appeared slightly revised in the 1881–1882 edition of Leaves of Grass . This manuscript also includes lines that were used in Specimen Days & Collect , see the description for ucb.00011 in this finding aid.

Whitman Archive Title: [nights by a peaceful happy creek]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00018
Box: 1
Folder: 30
Repository Title: Nights by a peaceful happy creek
Date: 1880–1881
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
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Content: A heavily revised draft of "A Happy Hour's Command," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883), which later appeared in Complete Prose Works (1892). The verso of this manuscript contains two cancelled lines: "In highest Noon I sing & Starry Night" and "with other Pieces & Specimen Days." Though "From Noon to Starry Night" is an 1881 cluster in Leaves of Grass , there is no other connection between this manuscript and Whitman's published work.

Whitman Archive Title: [good prefatory passage]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00020
Box: 1
Folder: 36
Repository Title: Specimen days, here and there
Date: 1880–1881
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
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Content: Notes intended for a prefatory passage that bear a loose resemblance to ideas and themes presented in "A Happy Hour's Command," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883), which later appeared in Complete Prose Works (1892). A comment at the top of the page indicates that Whitman considered using these lines in a footnote at the beginning of Specimen Days . Whitman made a similar notation on "I have jotted down these memoranda" (described above), portions of which were used as a footnote to "New Themes Entered Upon."

Whitman Archive Title: for Sparrows
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00078
Box: 1
Folder: 81
Repository Title: In the midst of the 22nd book
Date: about 1882
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
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Content: Notes that contributed to "Swallows on the River," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: ['80—Sunday]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00085
Box: 1
Folder: 53
Repository Title: A Contralto Voice
Date: 1880
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
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Content: A heavily revised and partially cancelled draft of "A Contralto Voice," which first appeared in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and was collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: Sparrows—Swallows
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00077
Box: 1
Folder: 46
Repository Title: Toronto...in the bookstore on king
Date: about 1880
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten; printed
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Content: Notes that contributed to "Swallows on the River," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883), and collected in Complete Prose Works (1892).

Whitman Archive Title: [Jan 12 1881]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00026
Box: 1
Folder: 44
Repository Title: Wherever I go, or winter or summer
Date: 1881
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 2 leaves, handwritten
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Content: Five scraps of paper containing prose notes. One scrap is dated January 12, 1881. On another scrap, "in preface? to my Notes" is written along the top of the page. Together these five scraps of paper comprise a nearly complete draft of "New Themes Entered Upon," Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). This piece of prose first appeared in the 29 January 1881 issue of The Critic , under the title "How I Get Around at 60, and Take Notes. (No. 1)" before it was published in Specimen Days and finally collected in Complete Prose Works (1892). Some lines in this manuscript can also be found in "[I just spin out my notes]," another prose manuscript held in the Livezey collection.

Whitman Archive Title: [May 16, 17]
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00003
Box: 1
Folder: 54
Repository Title: Birds—And a Caution
Date: 1881
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
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Content: A series of notes, dated 16–17 May 1881. The line which reads "the vocal shuttle of the whip-por-will" appeared nearly verbatim in "Birds—And a Caution, " Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883). "Birds—And a Caution" later appeared in Complete Prose Works (1892). This manuscript bears similarities in phraseology with "Sunday morning," a manuscript held in the Feinberg collection at the Library of Congress, which may be a revised draft of this item.

Whitman Archive Title: July 25 '81—Far Rockaway LI
Whitman Archive ID: ucb.00086
Box: 1
Folder: 55
Repository Title: My Native Sand and Salt Once More
Date: 1881
Genre: prose
Physical Description: 4 leaves, handwritten
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Content: A draft of "My Native Sand and Salt Once More," first published in Specimen Days & Collect (1882–1883) and included in Complete Prose Works (1892).

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