Leaves of Grass: First and "Death-Bed" (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) FROM OUR EDITORS
Barnes & Noble Classics offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
When Leaves of Grass was first published in 1855 as
a slim tract of twelve untitled poems, Walt Whitman was still an unknown. But
his self-published volume soon became a landmark of poetry, introducing the
world to a new and uniquely American form. The "father of free verse,"
Whitman drew upon the cadence of simple, even idiomatic speech to "sing" such
themes as democracy, sexuality, and frank autobiography.
Throughout his prolific writing career, Whitman continually revised his work
and expanded Leaves of Grass, which went through nine, substantively
different editions, culminating in the final, authoritative "Death-bed
Edition." Now the original 1855 version and the "Death-bed Edition" of
1892 have been brought together in a single volume, allowing the reader to
experience the total scope of Whitman?s genius, which produced love lyrics,
visionary musings, glimpses of nightmare and ecstasy, celebrations of the
human body and spirit, and poems of loneliness, loss, and mourning.
Alive with the mythical strength and vitality that epitomized the American
experience in the nineteenth century, Leaves of Grass continues to inspire,
uplift, and unite those who read it.
Karen Karbiener received a Ph.D. from Columbia University and
currently teaches at New York University. She also wrote the introduction and
notes for the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of Frankenstein.
Features several photographs of Walt Whitman.
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