The Walt Whitman Archive
In Whitman's Hand
Manuscripts
About this Item
Title: Make no quotations
Creator: Walt Whitman
Date: Between 1847 and 1855
Whitman Archive ID: duk.00305
Source: Trent Collection of Whitmaniana, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Transcribed from digital images of the original. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of manuscripts, see our statement of editorial policy.
Editorial note: Edward Grier speculates, based on the style and content, that this manuscript probably dates to between 1847 and 1855 (Notebooks and Unpublished Prose Manuscripts [New York: New York University Press, 1984], 1:159).
Contributors to digital file: Robert LaCosse, Kirsten Clawson, Janel Cayer, Kevin McMullen, Nicole Gray, Kenneth M. Price, and Brett Barney
[begin leaf 1 recto] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
![[Page image: https://whitmanarchive.org/manuscripts/figures/duk_km.00007_large.jpg]](https://whitmanarchive.org/manuscripts/figures/duk_km.00007_large.jpg)
Make no quotations, and no reference to any other writers.—nor
Lumber the writing with nothing—let it fly go as lightly as a bird flies in the air—or a fish swims in the sea
Be careful to temper down too much personality or [cut away]
[begin leaf 1 verso] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
![[Page image: https://whitmanarchive.org/manuscripts/figures/duk_am.00235.jpg]](https://whitmanarchive.org/manuscripts/figures/duk_am.00235.jpg)