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Creator
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892
Call number
Berg Coll MSS 188321
Physical description
0.03 linear feet (1 oversize folder, 2 folders)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Walt Whitman "Come, said my Soul," "A Thought of Columbus," and envelope to Peter Doyle manuscripts, Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library
Repository
Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Access to materials
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Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was a 19th-century American poet, essayist, and journalist. The Walt Whitman manuscripts, dating from circa 1874 to 1892, comprise two autograph manuscript poems, "A Thought of Columbus" and "Come, said my Soul," and an autograph envelope.

Biographical/historical information

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. He grew up and spent much of his career in Brooklyn, New York. Whitman's famous poetry collection, Leaves of Grass (1855, 1891-1892), was continuously expanded, revised, and republished during his lifetime. The collection celebrated the body, soul, nature, and democracy.

During the Civil War, Whitman worked as a government clerk in Washington, D.C., and nursed wounded soldiers. Those experiences influenced his poetry collection, Drum-Taps (1865). Whitman's widely recognized poems, "O Captain! My Captain!" (1865) and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" (1865), addressed the death of President Lincoln.

Whitman died in Camden, New Jersey in 1892.

Scope and arrangement

The Walt Whitman manuscripts, dating circa 1874 to 1892, consist of two autograph manuscript poems and an autograph envelope compiled by Susan Jaffe Tane.

The autograph manuscript poem, "Come, said my Soul" (circa 1874), consists of two joined leaves with emendations in Whitman's hand. This poem became the title page epigraph for Leaves of Grass.

The autograph manuscript poem "A Thought of Columbus" (Camden, March 1892) is in the hand of Anne Traubel with holograph corrections by Whitman. In addition to corrections, Whitman also signed the manuscript. The manuscript also has an inscription in the upper margin of the first page in the hand of Whitman's literary executor, Horace Traubel.

The autograph envelope (October) is addressed to Peter Doyle in the hand of Whitman.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Susan Jaffe Tane, 2024.

Processing information

Processed by Amy Lau in 2025.

Separated material

This item was donated by Susan Jaffe Tane in 2024 alongside manuscripts, poems, and letters of Samuel Clemens (Berg Coll MSS 188320), Charles Dickens (Berg Coll MSS 186712), Oliver Wendell Holmes (Berg Coll MSS 188319), Edgar Allan Poe (Berg Coll MSS 188317), and Henry David Thoreau (Berg Coll MSS 188318), which have been described separately.

Using the collection

Location

Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Third Floor, Room 320