The literary marketplace in nineteenth century America underwent many changes that had an impact on authors of the time and the ways they chose to publish their materials (Johanningsmeier 12). A “new, mass reading public” emerged as the population of the country itself more than doubled “from 31 million in 1860 to 76 million in 1900,” while the industrial revolution meant that steam-powered cylinder presses could speedily produce many more works for much less money (Johanningsmeier 12-13). Out of this tumultuous time rose the work of Walt Whitman, an American journalist and poet who was spurred on by the political unrest of the pre-American Civil War years to create a unique poetic voice and style to unify the nation, “and give expression to the full range of voices and images America had to offer” (Reynolds 6). He achieved this through use of free-flowing, open-ended poetry which accentuated themes of democracy, unity, love, and even same-sex relationships (Cherkovski xii).

When Whitman’s first volume of poetry entitled Leaves of Grass was published in 1855 by the Rome brothers in a mere two stores (one in New York and one in Brooklyn), the American publishing industry was one of “the largest and most advanced” in the world (Mason 1). Yet Whitman’s decision to publish the first edition of his work anonymously shows that despite this, the American public was far from ready for a work as unique and purportedly scandalous as Whitman’s (Gailey 2). This is not to say that Whitman did not have an intimate hand in the publication of his work; on the contrary, having been a printer’s apprentice for some years prior, Whitman was involved in nearly every detail of the publishing of Leaves of Grass, from the typeset to the daguerreotype of the author, portraying him relaxed in casual clothes with hat askew (Reynolds 6). Whitman used the particulars of publication not necessarily to hide from the public but to reinvent himself, as when he makes reference to himself for the first time on page 29 of Leaves of Grass, not as Walter, but as “Walt Whitman, a kosmos, of Manhattan the son,/ Turbulent, fleshy, sensual, eating, drinking and breeding” (Whitman 41).

This proclaiming of oneself as human and sensual meant that controversy followed the poet from his first published edition through the next five versions. While some critics such as Emerson exclaimed enthusiastically that “Americans… may now come home, for unto us a child is born,” readers of the time were more apt to describe Whitman as a filthy poet “who regards his passions as their own excuse for being,” or even more hyperbolically as a “false prophet” (Weirick 4- 17; Martin 7). It was likely not much of a surprise when the 1881 edition was banned in Boston due to its “obscene” content (Gailey 3).

Yet controversy and censorship did little to stop Whitman producing more poems and editing the various versions of Leaves of Grass that emerged throughout the mid to late 1800s. In fact it was this process of constantly changing and re-releasing his poetry that allowed Whitman to carefully shape the self-image that he wanted to portray to America (Meyers 755). The physical look of his works reflected the messages that he wished readers to take away from them (Folsom 1). The second edition, for instance, was changed in shape to a compact pocket edition which could be easily carried, representing the natural themes of his poetry and the poet’s own tendency to ramble through the American countryside as inspiration (Gailey 3). Separate sections are in some cases blended together in later versions into one seamless whole, representative of Whitman’s unified and “democratic” writing style (Gailey 4). Ultimately, this fluid method of production leaves readers with varied messages from the poet, adding to the ambiguity of his work, and allowing Whitman to become a true poet of the people as his nuanced writing takes on a plurality of voices.

Works Cited

Cherkovski, Neeli. Whitman’s Wild Children. South Royalton: Steerforth, 1999. Print.

Gailey, Amanda. “The Publishing History of Leaves of Grass.” Nines Peer Reviewed

       Essays. Web. 2 Mar. 2012.

Johanningsmeier, Charles. Fiction and the American Literary Marketplace. New York:

Cambridge UP, 2002. Print.

Martin, Robert K. The Homosexual Tradition in American Poetry. Iowa City: University

of Iowa, 1998. Print.

Mason, Carley. “The Life of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.” Leaves of Grass   

     Annotation Project. Stockton College, 2009. Web. 2 Mar. 2012.

Meyers, Jeffrey. “Whitman’s Lives.” The Antioch Review 63.4 (2005): 755-87. JSTOR.

Web. 27 Jan. 2012.

Reynolds, David S. A Historical Guide to Walt Whitman. New York: Oxford UP1, 2000.

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Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman. New York: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.

Weirick, Bruce. From Whitman to Sandburg in American Poetry. New York: Biblio and

Tannen, 1967. Print.

Whitman, Walt. The Complete Poems of Walt Whitman. London: Wordsworth Editions

Ltd., 2006. Print.