Walt Whitman - Collected Works, incl. Leaves of Grass (59 books)

* Walt Whitman - Collected Works, incl. Leaves of Grass (59 books)

WALT WHITMAN (1819–1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist who is considered one of the most influential writers in American literature and world literature. Whitman broke away from traditional European poetic structures to forge a distinctly democratic, uniquely American voice. His pioneering free verse celebrated the ordinary individual, the vastness of the American landscape, and the beauty of the human body and spirit.

His work was controversial in his time, particularly his 1855 poetry collection LEAVES OF GRASS , which was described by some as obscene for its overt sensuality. Revised continuously until his death, the book represented a radical departure from the structured rhymes of his contemporaries. It features his most famous poem, "Song of Myself," where Whitman uses a sprawling, inclusive "I" to merge his identity with all human experiences. Over successive editions, the collection grew to encompass his reflections on the American Civil War, including his moving elegies for Abraham Lincoln, "O Captain! My Captain!" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d."

While primarily celebrated as a poet, Whitman also dedicated a significant portion of his early career to fiction. Working as a journalist and editor, he wrote short stories and serialized novels aimed at the popular market of the 1840s. His most notable fiction work is FRANKLIN EVANS; OR, THE INEBRIATE , a temperance novel published in 1842. Though Whitman later distanced himself from the book, it became his most commercially successful publication during his lifetime, showcasing his early engagement with contemporary social reforms.

Whitman’s non-fiction prose offers a vital, direct window into his philosophy and the turbulent era he lived through, offering an unflinching assessment of the great ongoing social experiment that is the United States. His critical essay DEMOCRATIC VISTAS (1871), written in the aftermath of the Civil War, examines the future of American democracy, arguing that the nation required a new, robust literature to achieve its spiritual potential. Additionally, his autobiographical prose work SPECIMEN DAYS (1882) provides vivid, firsthand accounts of his experiences as a volunteer nurse in Washington, D.C. hospitals during the Civil War, alongside peaceful reflections on nature.

The immense scale of Whitman’s personal and professional life is fully captured in NYU Press’s monumental multi-volume edition, THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF WALT WHITMAN (1961–1984, with supplements in 2003 and 2004). This scholarly undertaking brought together his vast, previously scattered notebooks, daybooks, correspondence, and unpublished prose manuscripts, revealing the meticulous work behind his public persona. The eight volumes devoted to his CORRESPONDENCE map out his intimate relationships and professional networks, featuring nearly 3,000 letters to family members, close friends, and the wounded Civil War soldiers he comforted. Meanwhile, the DAYBOOKS AND NOTEBOOKS (3 vols.) show Whitman acting as his own business manager, publisher, and promoter. This sixteen-year record supplements the biographical information provided in the Correspondence, functioning as an account book, diary, journal, commonplace book, and notebook all in one.

Beyond logistical records, the expansive NOTEBOOKS AND UNPUBLISHED PROSE MANUSCRIPTS (7 vols.) segment of the collection uncovers the intellectual scaffolding of his poetry. These volumes gather Whitman’s raw self-education files—comprising detailed readings in world religions, mythology, ancient history, and phrenology—alongside first drafts of famous poems. His private notebooks also record his increasing political anxieties during the Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, counterbalancing the unwavering optimism found in his published works. By preserving these fragmented jottings and private records, the Collected Writings shifts our understanding of Whitman, showing that his radical literary voice was forged through a lifelong, systematic accumulation of everyday observations, intense study, and rigorous self-archiving.


The following books are in ePUB and/or PDF format as noted:

== COLLECTED WRITINGS OF WW (23 vols., 1961–2004) ==

* Correspondence, 1842–1892 [ed. Miller, 7 volumes, incl. Supplements & Index] (NYU, 1961–1991) – PDF
* Correspondence, Volume 7 [ed. Genoways] (Iowa, 2004) – PDF
* Daybooks and Notebooks, 1876–1891 [ed. White, 3 volumes] (NYU, 1978) – PDF
* Early Poems and the Fiction [ed. Brasher] (NYU, 1963) – PDF
* Journalism, 1834–1848 [ed. Bergman et al., 2 volumes] (Peter Lang, 1998–2003) – PDF
* Leaves of Grass: A Textual Variorum [ed. Bradley et al., 3 volumes] (NYU, 1980) – PDF
* Notebooks and Unpublished Prose Manuscripts [ed. Grier, 7 volumes] (NYU, 1984) – PDF
* Prose Works 1892, Volume 1: Specimen Days [ed. Stovall] (NYU, 1963) – PDF
* Prose Works 1892, Volume 2: Collect and Other Prose [ed. Stovall] (NYU, 1964) – PDF

== POETRY ==

* Complete Poems [ed. Murphy] (Penguin, 2004) – ePUB
* Drum-Taps: The Complete 1865 Edition [ed. Kramer] (NYRB, 2015) – ePUB
* Leaves of Grass [ed. Riley] (Oxford, 2024) – ePUB
* Leaves of Grass [intro. Kaplan] (Bantam, 2004) – ePUB
* Leaves of Grass: The First (1855) Edition [ed. Cowley] (Penguin, 1976) – ePUB
* Leaves of Grass: Variorum Edition (Pynch, 2014) – ePUB
* Leaves of Grass, 1860: The 150th Anniversary Facsimile Edition [ed. Stacy] (Iowa, 2009) – PDF
* Live Oak, with Moss [illus. Selznick] (Abrams, 2019) – PDF
* On the Beach at Night Alone (Penguin Little Black Classics, 2015) – ePUB
* The Sea Is a Continual Miracle: Sea Poems and Other Writings [ed. Yang] (UPNE, 2017) – ePUB
* Selected Poems, 1855-1892 [ed. Schmidgall] (St. Martin's, 1999) – ePUB
* Song of Myself and Other Poems [ed. Haas] (Counterpoint, 2010) – ePUB / PDF
* Song of Myself: With Complete Commentary [ed. Folsom & Merrill] (Iowa, 2016) – ePUB / PDF
* Songs of Male Intimacy and Love [ed. Erkkila] (Iowa, 2011) – PDF

== FICTION ==

* Franklin Evans, or The Inebriate [ed. Castiglia & Hendler] (Duke, 2007) – PDF
* Life and Adventures of Jack Engle [intro. Turpin] (Iowa, 2017) – ePUB

== NON-FICTION ==

* Democratic Vistas: The Original Edition in Facsimile [ed. Folsom] (Iowa, 2010) – PDF
* Every Hour, Every Atom: A Collection of Early Notebooks and Fragments [ed. Turpin & Miller] (Iowa, 2020) – PDF
* Guide to Manly Health and Training [illus. Allen] (Ten Speed Press, 2017) – ePUB
* Manly Health and Training [intro. Turpin] (Regan, 2017) – ePUB
* Memoranda During the War [ed. Coviello] (Oxford, 2004) – PDF
* Memoranda During the War [ed. Blaisdell] (Dover, 2010) – ePUB
* On Democracy [ed. Bromwich] (Library of America, 2026) – ePUB
* Selected Journalism [ed. Noverr & Stacy] (Iowa, 2015) – PDF
* Specimen Days [ed. Cavitch] (Oxford, 2023) – ePUB
* Specimen Days and Collect [ed. Jamison] (Melville House, 2014) – ePUB

== LETTERS & CONVERSATIONS ==

* Intimate with Walt: Conversations with HoraceTraubel, 1888-92 [ed. Schmidgall] (Iowa, 2001) – PDF
* Letters of Anne Gilchrist and Walt Whitman [ed. Harned] (Doubleday, 1918) – ePUB / PDF
* Selected Letters [ed. Miller] (Iowa, 1990) – PDF
* Walt Whitman Speaks [ed. Wineapple] (Library of America, 2019) – ePUB

== ANTHOLOGIES ==

* Complete Works (Delphi Classics, 2012) – ePUB
* Meditations of Walt Whitman [ed. Highland] (Wilderness Press, 2004) – ePUB
* Poetry and Prose [ed. Kaplan] (Library of America, 1982) – PDF^
* Portable Walt Whitman [ed. Warner] (Penguin, 2004) – ePUB
* Portable Walt Whitman [ed. Warner] (Penguin, 2004) – PDF

^PDF courtesy of @Mohamed5438


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